TIME Magazine

What TIME Magazine does

TIME Magazine is a 100-year-old American global media brand, founded in 1923 as the first weekly news magazine and now operating as a privately held multi-platform company headquartered in New York City. It was acquired by Marc Benioff, co-founder of Salesforce, from Meredith Corporation in 2018 for approximately $190 million. The company publishes a flagship weekly news magazine in print and operates time.com, mobile apps (iOS and Android), and a network of 12+ verticalized newsletters reaching 100+ million people globally with 51+ million social media followers across platforms including X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

TIME's product portfolio extends well beyond journalism into TIME Studios (award-winning film and television), Red Border (branded content studio), TIME CO2 (climate action platform), TIME Stamped (recommendations and e-commerce in partnership with Taboola), TIME for Kids (children's editorial), Charter (future-of-work content), and TIME Vault (digital archive). It runs 12+ newsletters targeting distinct reader segments (The Brief, Leadership, Future Proof, Health Matters, In the Loop, Parents, D.C. Brief, POV, Worth Your Time) and produces high-profile editorial events including the TIME100 Summit, TIME100 Gala, and TIME100 Health Impact Dinner.

The business model is diversified across multiple recurring and one-time revenue streams: consumer subscriptions (digital at $20/year, print+digital bundles starting at $29/year with auto-renewal), advertising (programmatic and direct on time.com, mobile, newsletters, and social), AI content licensing (deals with OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, Perplexity, and Amazon), branded content and events (TIME100, Red Border), film/TV production (TIME Studios), and affiliate/e-commerce revenue (TIME Stamped). Subscription fulfillment is operated through direct-to-consumer channels via time.com, a US call center, and regional portals serving Asia/Pacific, Europe/Middle East/Africa, and Latin America, supported by wholly-owned regional subsidiaries in the UK, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Customer base spans general news consumers plus targeted segments in business/tech, health, climate, and family content.

Name

TIME Magazine

Legal name

TIME USA, LLC

Website

https://time.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1923

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

TIME Magazine is a 100-year-old American global media brand publishing weekly news across print, digital, video, newsletters, and live events. Privately owned by Marc Benioff, it reaches 100+ million people via subscriptions, advertising, AI content licensing, branded content, and the TIME100 franchise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Magazine Subscriptions (Print): TIME sells print magazine subscriptions with home delivery, offered as a standalone print plan or as part of a print-and-digital bundle. Subscriptions auto-renew annually.
2. Digital Subscriptions: TIME sells digital-only subscriptions providing instant access to digital magazines, audio storytelling, and digital-exclusive content. Digital subscriptions are available via time.com, mobile apps (iOS App Store, Android), and international digital portals.
3. Licensing and AI Content Deals: TIME has signed AI content licensing agreements with major AI companies (OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, Perplexity, Amazon) as part of a broader industry shift toward compensating publishers for AI training use of their content.
4. Events and Summits: TIME organizes and hosts premium editorial events including the TIME100 Summit, TIME100 Gala, and TIME100 Health Impact Dinner. These invite-only events feature speaking engagements, networking, and partnerships with corporate sponsors.
5. TIME Studios (Film, Television, Branded Content): TIME Studios produces award-winning film, television, and branded content. Red Border is TIME's in-house branded content studio creating sponsored editorial for brand partners.
6. Advertising Revenue: TIME generates advertising revenue through its website (time.com), mobile apps, email newsletters, and social media footprint. Ad targeting uses Google Ad Manager, Ad Exchange, and data-driven audience segmentation.
7. TIME CO2 and TIME Stamped Platforms: TIME CO2 is a climate action platform. TIME Stamped is a recommendations and e-commerce platform created in partnership with Taboola, generating affiliate and referral revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

TIME is a global multi-platform news media brand that publishes a flagship weekly news magazine in print and digital formats (time.com and mobile apps), supported by a portfolio of email newsletters, a digital archive (TIME Vault), and curated editorial sub-brands. The company produces original film and television content through TIME Studios, creates branded content via its Red Border studio, operates a climate action platform (TIME CO2) and an e-commerce/recommendations platform (TIME Stamped, with Taboola). It monetizes through consumer subscriptions, advertising, branded content partnerships, premium live events (TIME100 Summit, TIME100 Gala, TIME100 Health Impact Dinner, TIME Visionaries), and AI content licensing agreements with major AI companies.

Product overview

TIME Magazine operates as a multi-platform global media brand offering a flagship weekly news magazine alongside digital properties, event experiences, and branded content studios. The core TIME Magazine publication and TIME.com website deliver breaking news and in-depth features across politics, business, science, health, entertainment, and sports. TIME's portfolio includes specialized sub-brands: TIME Studios (film/TV production), Red Border (branded content), TIME CO2 (climate action), and TIME Stamped (e-commerce). Digital offerings encompass The Brief and Inside TIME newsletters, the TIME Vault archive, and interactive games including Market Movers prediction markets, Linked word puzzles, and jigsaw games. The company also publishes regional editions including TIME Africa and TIME France, youth-focused TIME for Kids, and Charter (Future of Work) editorial content.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TIME Studios: Award-winning film and television division producing documentaries and series
• TIME CO2
• Red Border
• TIME Stamped
• TIME for Kids
• TIME100
• TIME Visionaries
• Charter

Products and services

• TIME Magazine (Print and Digital Subscription) The flagship weekly news magazine covering national and world news, politics, business, science, technology, health, entertainment, and sports, offered via auto-renewing print, digital-only, or print+digital bundle subscriptions.
• TIME.com Digital News Platform The primary digital website providing breaking news, in-depth features, multimedia content, and access to TIME Magazine articles across AI, Climate, Health, Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Business, Science, World, and Ideas sections.
• TIME Studios
• Red Border (Branded Content Studio)
• TIME CO2 Climate Action Platform
• TIME Stamped Recommendations and E-commerce Platform
• TIME for Kids
• TIME Vault (Digital Archive)
• TIME100 Editorial Events and Lists
• Predictor.io Prediction Market Platform Prediction market platform built with Galactic that integrates prediction markets into TIME's news and cultural content for interactive consumer engagement.
• TIME GEO Insights Product GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) insights product for brands, designed to increase brand visibility in AI-generated search engine summaries.
• Charter (Future of Work Vertical)
• TIME Email Newsletter Portfolio
• AI Content Licensing Program Multi-year content licensing program under which TIME grants major AI companies access to its editorial archive for training and retrieval-augmented generation use cases.
• TIME100 Health Editorial Franchise Annual editorial franchise recognizing doctors, scientists, policymakers, and innovators shaping global healthcare, anchored by an invite-only TIME100 Health Impact Dinner in New York.
• TIME Sports 100 Inaugural annual list recognizing the 100 most influential athletes and coaches in sports, with categories including Titans (professional icons), Pioneers (rising stars), and Coaches.
• India's Fastest-Growing Companies 2026 Statista-partnered editorial ranking evaluating and ranking India's fastest-growing companies based on revenue CAGR between FY2022 and FY2025.
• World's Most Sustainable Companies 2026 Annual editorial ranking produced with Statista recognizing 750 companies worldwide for sustainability performance, drawn from an evaluation pool of 5,800+ companies across 43 countries and 20 industries.
• TIME100 Next India Regional extension of the TIME100 franchise recognizing 100 rising Indian leaders, announced at the TIME100 Gala and slated to launch in Mumbai in December 2026.
• TIME Cover Store (E-commerce)

Quantifiable outcome

• 100+ million people reached worldwide across all platforms
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Reliance Foundation / Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural CentrecoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 April 2026A partnership was announced at the TIME100 Gala in New York to launch TIME100 Next India, a new platform recognizing 100 rising Indian leaders, to be hosted at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai in December 2026. Nita Ambani, founder of Reliance Foundation, spoke at the TIME100 Summit asserting India's rising global influence.
• Aster DM HealthcarecoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 February 2026Aster DM Healthcare partnered with TIME to support the TIME100 Health Impact Dinner in New York, an invite-only event celebrating the unveiling of the TIME100 Health list recognizing doctors, scientists, policymakers, and innovators shaping global healthcare. Ms. Alisha Moopen, Managing Director and Group CEO of Aster DM Healthcare, addressed the gathering of 150 distinguished guests including honorees, healthcare pioneers, and investors. Aster DM Healthcare operates across seven countries in the GCC and India, serving 20 million patients annually with nearly 40,000 healthcare professionals.
• GalacticcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2025TIME announced a partnership with Galactic to launch Predictor.io, a prediction market platform scheduled for early 2026. The platform aims to transform how consumers engage with content by integrating prediction markets into news and cultural content, creating interactive experiences. This represents TIME's expansion into interactive consumer-facing digital products.
• TaboolacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTIME created TIME Stamped, a recommendations and e-commerce platform, in partnership with Taboola. TIME Stamped serves as a content-to-commerce platform providing editorial product recommendations to consumers.
• Charter (Charterworks)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTIME hosts Charter, a future-of-work content platform in partnership with Charterworks.com. Charter provides research, analysis, and commentary on AI, leadership, HR, and workplace transformation. TIME's editorial staff operates independently from Charter's editorial content.
• StatistacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTIME partners with data firm Statista for research-backed editorial lists including World's Most Sustainable Companies, India's Fastest-Growing Companies, and World's Best Brands. Statista provides the data methodology and verification for these rankings.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• The New Yorker: Premium weekly magazine published by Condé Nast covering news, culture, and ideas to a similarly educated subscriber base. Closest direct peer to TIME in editorial cadence, brand prestige, and subscription-driven business model.
• Forbes: Premium business news brand operating a similar multi-platform model (print, digital, branded content, events, newsletters). Forbes is also a directly comparable peer on GEO Insights productization for brands and AI-era monetization of editorial authority.
• Newsweek: Weekly US news magazine serving overlapping general news, politics, business, and culture audiences. Direct historical peer to TIME in the weekly news periodical category with similar digital subscription and advertising model.
• The Economist: Premium weekly news and analysis publication with strong subscription business, global edition strategy, and similar audience of business/professional readers. Comparable on premium pricing power, recurring subscription model, and event/experiential extensions.
• Bloomberg Businessweek: Weekly business news magazine from Bloomberg with overlapping business/finance/news audience and similar print-digital hybrid subscription model. Comparable on premium news periodical positioning and B2B event monetization.

Broad incumbents

• Wall Street Journal (News Corp): Premium daily news brand owned by News Corp with a much larger paid subscription base and similar AI content licensing deal with OpenAI reported at $250M+. Comparable on premium subscription model, AI licensing strategy, and authoritative news positioning.
• Financial Times: Global premium business news brand owned by Nikkei with comparable subscription economics, B2B events, and an AI content licensing arrangement. Comparable on subscription-led revenue, AI licensing as a peer deal, and professional/leadership audience overlap with TIME's Leadership newsletter.
• Condé Nast (parent): Multi-title premium magazine publisher (Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ, The New Yorker, Wired) with similar print roots, digital subscription pivots, and AI content licensing deals. Comparable as a portfolio-level peer operating premium news/lifestyle brands at global scale.
• Axel Springer (Business Insider, Politico Europe): Global media conglomerate operating premium news brands with deep AI content licensing partnerships (notably OpenAI) and aggressive subscription/business information pivots. Comparable on premium news-to-AI licensing pipeline, subscription-first strategy, and global events business.

Emerging players

• Politico: News and policy media brand with a strong digital subscription and events business (Politico Pro). Comparable on news subscription model, policy/politics editorial overlap with TIME, and successful events-led monetization extension beyond advertising.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TIME
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/time
• Facebookfacebook.com/time
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/time
• Instagraminstagram.com/time
• TikToktiktok.com/@time
• Pinterestpinterest.com/time

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about TIME Magazine