The Atlantic
The Atlantic is a 168-year-old American media publication offering subscription-based digital, print, podcast, newsletter, and live event journalism across politics, technology, culture, and science to approximately 1.5 million paying subscribers worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1857
- HeadquartersWashington, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What The Atlantic does
The Atlantic, founded in 1857 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a private American media publication operating under The Atlantic Monthly Group. It publishes long-form journalism, essays, and commentary across politics, technology, science, culture, international affairs, and ideas, serving an educated, affluent readership through a digital-first subscription model. Its product portfolio includes a core subscription product spanning digital and print access, an audio layer of podcasts (Radio Atlantic, Galaxy Brain, Autocracy in America, The David Frum Show, How to Age Up) and 650+ narrated articles on Spotify, a newsletter suite (Atlantic Daily, Atlantic Intelligence, Work in Progress, Being Human, The Weekly Planet, National Security), the AI Watchdog investigative project tracking creative works used in AI training datasets, interactive content via The Atlantic Games, and live event programming through AtlanticLIVE and the Atlantic Across America 50-state tour. Editorial leadership is anchored by Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg and CEO Nicholas Thompson, with the newsroom expanded to over 200 staff by the addition of 50 journalists in 2025.
The Atlantic firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Atlantic
- Legal name
- The Atlantic Monthly Group
- Website
- https://theatlantic.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1857
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- The Atlantic is a 168-year-old American media publication offering subscription-based digital, print, podcast, newsletter, and live event journalism across politics, technology, culture, and science to approximately 1.5 million paying subscribers worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The Atlantic industry classification
Industry- Product category
- News Media and Journalism
- NAICS
- Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Newspaper Publishers (513110)
- SIC
- Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)
- akta.pro primary industry
- News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines (MPAJAEAO)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Data Journalism & News Intelligence Publishers (Indexes, Election/Market Data) (MPAJADAK), National & General-Interest Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAA)
Keywords
Where The Atlantic is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Washington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
The Atlantic business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations
Revenue model
- Digital Subscriptions: The Atlantic generates revenue primarily through digital subscriptions, growing from 1 million to 1.5 million paying subscribers.
- Cruise Partnership and Events: Three-year exclusive partnership with Seabourn luxury cruise line including curated events, programming, and subscription integration generating revenue through passenger enrichment experiences.
- Film and TV Licensing: First-look deal with Prologue Entertainment to develop film and TV projects based on Atlantic journalism.
- Advertising: The Atlantic generates advertising revenue through its digital platform, with publishers including The Atlantic filing antitrust lawsuits against Google over ad tech practices.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Digital subscription with approximately 1.5 million paying subscribers |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels6 records
The Atlantic product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Atlantic is a multi-platform journalism and media company that produces and distributes long-form reporting, essays, podcasts, newsletters, and live events across politics, technology, culture, science, national security, and international affairs. It sells this content primarily through a paid digital and print subscription, supplemented by advertising, content licensing, ticket and sponsorship revenue from live events, and strategic distribution partnerships such as the Seabourn cruise programming agreement. The company also operates AI Watchdog, an ongoing investigative initiative tracking creative works used in AI training datasets.
Product overview
The Atlantic is a premium digital and print publication offering in-depth journalism, essays, and commentary across politics, technology, science, culture, and international affairs. The product portfolio includes a core subscription magazine (digital and print access to all content), podcast series (Radio Atlantic, The David Frum Show, Galaxy Brain, Autocracy in America, How to Age Up), curated newsletters (The Atlantic Daily, Atlantic Intelligence, The Weekly Planet, Work in Progress, Being Human), an AI Watchdog investigative project tracking AI training data, AtlanticLIVE events programming (Across America 50-state tour), and interactive content through The Atlantic Games.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- AI Watchdog: The Atlantic's ongoing investigation tracking the books, videos, and other media used by tech companies to train their AI models. Includes searchable databases and investigative reporting on AI training data.
Products and services
- The Atlantic Subscription A premium digital and print subscription product offering unlimited access to articles, the magazine, podcasts, and the journalism archive, with approximately 1.5 million paying subscribers as of 2026.
- AI Watchdog An ongoing investigative project that tracks books, videos, songs, and other media used by tech companies to train AI models, including proprietary searchable databases of AI training datasets.
- Atlantic Podcasts A portfolio of award-winning podcast series including Radio Atlantic, The David Frum Show, Galaxy Brain, Autocracy in America, and How to Age Up, distributing Atlantic journalism in audio form to subscribers and podcast listeners.
- Atlantic Newsletters Curated email newsletters including The Atlantic Daily, Atlantic Intelligence, The Weekly Planet, Work in Progress, Being Human, Galaxy Brain, and National Security, delivering topic-specific coverage to subscribers.
- AtlanticLIVE / Atlantic Across America A nationwide live events program featuring journalism panels, panel discussions, and curated programming touring all 50 U.S. states, plus dedicated summits such as the AI and Creativity Summit, generating revenue through ticket sales and sponsorships.
- The Atlantic Games Digital puzzles and games (including a free daily crossword puzzle) offering intellectual entertainment alongside the publication's journalism, extending audience engagement beyond articles.
- Film and TV Licensing (Prologue Entertainment First-Look Deal) A first-look licensing arrangement with Prologue Entertainment (backed by RedBird Capital) to develop film and TV projects based on Atlantic journalism, monetizing the editorial archive through entertainment licensing.
Quantifiable outcome
- Subscriber growth from 1M to 1.5M paying subscribers
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use The Atlantic
Customer profileNamed customers13 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
The Atlantic technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
The Atlantic partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- ContentfulcoreThe Atlantic is a launch partner for Contentful's Palmata AI brand monitoring product, designed to help organizations track how AI answer engines describe their business and identify changes affecting responses.
- Parallel Web Systems / IndexcoreThe Atlantic is a launch partner for Parallel's Index platform designed to compensate content owners for how AI agents use their work, using Shapley value to calculate each source's contribution to agent tasks.
- SeabourncoreThree-year exclusive partnership in which The Atlantic develops curated editorial programming on select Seabourn cruises covering culture, business, science, health, and technology. The partnership includes a culminating 12-day voyage from Montreal to Boston in October 2028 marking Seabourn's 40th anniversary, subscription integration with complimentary digital access for cruise guests, and curation of ship libraries fleetwide.
- Prologue EntertainmentcoreFirst-look deal with Prologue Entertainment to develop film and TV projects based on The Atlantic's journalism. Prologue, backed by RedBird Capital, has created notable projects including Netflix series Zero Day and a film by Kathryn Bigelow.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
The Atlantic competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- The New York Times Company: The New York Times operates a leading subscription-based news and journalism business across digital and print, with a similar mix of breaking news, long-form journalism, podcasts, and newsletters. It is the most direct comparable for The Atlantic's subscription-led, premium-journalism business model.
- The Washington Post: The Washington Post is a national subscription-supported news publication covering politics, culture, and technology with a similar premium subscriber base and digital pivot. It directly competes with The Atlantic for paying national-affairs readers and advertiser attention.
- The New Yorker: The New Yorker is a subscription-supported literary and current-affairs magazine with overlapping editorial scope (politics, culture, ideas) and a similar affluent subscriber base. It competes directly with The Atlantic for long-form journalism subscribers.
- The Economist: The Economist is a global subscription-led news and ideas publication with overlapping coverage of politics, technology, and culture. Its premium subscription model and educated-international audience make it a strong direct comparable.
- Politico: Politico is a subscription-supported political journalism brand covering Washington, national security, and policy. It competes with The Atlantic in the politics and national-security verticals for paying readers and policy-adjacent advertisers.
Broad incumbents
- Condé Nast: Condé Nast operates a portfolio of premium magazines (The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Wired) and digital properties targeting affluent, educated audiences. It is a broad incumbent comparable on premium magazine publishing, advertising sales, and digital subscription.
- Vox Media: Vox Media operates a portfolio of digital publications (Vox, The Verge, SB Nation) plus podcasting and events. It is comparable as a multi-brand digital media company monetizing journalism via advertising, subscriptions, and live events.
- Bloomberg Media: Bloomberg Media operates a subscription-supported business, technology, and politics news brand targeting affluent professionals. It overlaps with The Atlantic on premium business, technology, and policy coverage and competes for similar advertisers.
- Axel Springer (Politico, Business Insider): Axel Springer is a large media conglomerate owning Politico, Business Insider, and other subscription-led news brands. It is comparable as a multi-brand operator in the subscription-supported news market, including policy and politics coverage.
Emerging players
- Harper's Magazine: Harper's is a long-running American literary and political magazine with a similar editorial scope to The Atlantic's ideas and culture coverage. It is a smaller-scale direct competitor for long-form magazine subscribers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
The Atlantic social profiles
Digital presenceThe Atlantic financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Atlantic leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
The Atlantic funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Atlantic M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Atlantic
What does The Atlantic do?
The Atlantic is a multi-platform journalism and media company that produces and distributes long-form reporting, essays, podcasts, newsletters, and live events across politics, technology, culture, science, national security, and international affairs. It sells this content primarily through a paid digital and print subscription, supplemented by advertising, content licensing, ticket and sponsorship revenue from live events, and strategic distribution partnerships such as the Seabourn cruise programming agreement. The company also operates AI Watchdog, an ongoing investigative initiative tracking creative works used in AI training datasets.
Is The Atlantic a public or private company?
The Atlantic is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was The Atlantic founded?
The Atlantic was founded in 1857. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is The Atlantic based?
The Atlantic is headquartered in Washington, United States, in the North America region.
How does The Atlantic make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Digital Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are cruise Partnership and Events, film and TV Licensing and advertising.
Who are The Atlantic's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are The New York Times Company, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Economist and Politico. Broad incumbents are Condé Nast, Vox Media, Bloomberg Media and Axel Springer (Politico, Business Insider). Harper's Magazine is listed as an emerging player.
Does The Atlantic have an API?
No public API is recorded for The Atlantic.
What industry is The Atlantic in?
The Atlantic's product category is News Media and Journalism. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJAEAO, News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines, with a secondary code of MPAJADAK, Data Journalism & News Intelligence Publishers (Indexes, Election/Market Data). Its NAICS code is 5131 and its SIC code is 2721.