Former NBA player Ulysses "Junior" Bridgeman offered $14 million in U.S. Bankruptcy Court this week to purchase Ebony Media's assets, hoping to revive the publication which was once a pillar of the Black community. The retired Milwaukee Bucks forward, who was announced as the successful bidder for the company, is now waiting for the federal bankruptcy judge to approve the sale on Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Bridgeman said the company can once again become a profitable business despite its recent financial struggles and it can return to a place of prominence in American culture.
“Nothing is ever easy, but this would be, I think, a labor of love,” Bridgeman said.
Ebony, which was founded by John H. Johnson in 1945, was forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy earlier this year after defaulting on more than $10 million in loans. CVG Group, a Texas-based private equity firm, was hoping to revive the company after purchasing Ebony and its sister publication, Jet, in 2016. But the magazine found itself in more trouble when freelancers and former employees brought lawsuits, complaining about unpaid compensation. The lawsuit was settled in 2018 when Ebony agreed to pay $80,000 to dozens of writers.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Ebony's main shareholder was recently fired as chief executive and removed from the board for allegedly making financial transactions without board or lender approval.
After the magazine stopped its print publication last year, Bridgeman said he expects Ebony to remain as a digital platform. The iconic print edition has documented many of the defining moments in Black history, including the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, the 1965 march in Selma and Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral in 1968.
“When you look at Ebony, you look at the history not just for Black people, but of the United States,” Bridgeman said. “I think it’s something that a generation is missing and we want to bring that back as much as we can.”
The Chicago native focused on his entrepreneurial ventures after a 12-year career with the Milwaukee Bucks, becoming a fast-food restaurant franchisee. The 67-year-old also sold his restaurant interests and launched Heartland Coca-Cola Bottling Co., a Kansas-based facility, in 2017.
