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The media company Recurrent Ventures has dismissed its chief executive officer, Alex Vargas, after one year in the role, according to two people familiar with the matter. Vargas had served as the chief operating officer for seven months before becoming CEO.
In his place, the company has elevated Andrew Perlman, a co-founder of Recurrent Ventures and former managing director at North Equity, the private equity company that owns Recurrent Ventures.
A representative for the company confirmed the news.
“We’re appreciative of everything Alex has helped us accomplish in the last 18 months,” said director of communications Cathy Hebert. “His perspective and insight have helped every facet of the company and put us in a strong position. Given that Andrew has been part of Recurrent from the beginning, the board feels he is uniquely positioned to lead the company and help it continue to evolve and grow.”
Recurrent Ventures, which has acquired more than two dozen distressed editorial properties since 2018, has struggled to maintain consistent leadership since its blockbuster entry onto the media landscape. Perlman will be the third CEO to helm Recurrent Ventures in the last three years.
With its private equity backing, Recurrent Ventures has raised a war chest of $400 million. Its most recent round of financing, $300 million in May 2022, was led by Blackstone.
The company used the capital to acquire titles such as Field & Stream, Domino and Popular Science. Its business relies primarily on a mix of programmatic advertising and affiliate revenue.
However, its rapid spending spree left the company overextended and resulted in accusations of mismanagement and sporadic layoffs, as Adweek first reported in October 2022. In July 2021, for instance, the company acquired Mel Magazine only to shutter it a year later.
Recurrent Ventures, alongside media companies like Dotdash Meredith, Ziff Davis and Future plc, embodied the concept of intent media. In this model, publishers produce niche service journalism designed to perform well in search inquiries, which then provides natural contextual alignment between high-intent readers and relevant brands.
