Chris Hughes Sells The New Republic To Liberal Publishing Magnate Win McCormack

Chris Hughes, publisher of the beleaguered the New Republic, said Friday that he had sold the magazine to the liberal publishing magnate Win McCormack. The magazine's new publisher will be Hamilton Fish, formerly of the Nation and the Washington Spectator.

“When I announced my intention to sell the New Republic last month, my goal was to find the right steward to ensure that TNR continues to be impactful and relevant,” Hughes, who bought the magazine in 2012, said in a statement.

Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook, said that McCormack's and Fish's credentials in the world of liberal publishing gave him the confidence to hand over the “historic institution.”

“I look forward to watching their progress over the years to come,” he added.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

According to Federal Election Commission filings, McCormack has donated millions to progressive PACs, including $500,000 to Priorities USA in 2012, when it was supporting President Barack Obama's bid for reelection. (It now supports Hillary Clinton.) He also donated hundreds of thousands to Clintonite David Brock's super PAC, American Bridge.

McCormack said he plans to preserve the magazine's ethos as a place to debate the “principles of liberalism” while remaining relevant in a new era of politics.

“The New Republic was founded in 1914 as the organ of a modernized liberalism and then-dominant progressive movement, and has remained true to its founding principles, under all its multiple owners, ever since,” McCormack said in the press release.

“We intend to continue in the same tradition,” he added.

McCormack's son Noah, who became publisher of the glossy leftwing magazine The Baffler in 2015, announced on Twitter that he would be moving to New York to take on a new, unspecified role at TNR working under Fish. He will still work on the Baffler.