Subscription newsletter company Puck has acquired Air Mail, the digital media startup founded by magazine veteran Graydon Carter, in a deal valued at approximately $16 million, the companies announced Thursday. The acquisition brings together two like-minded digital media startups while ending a year-long exit process for Air Mail’s investors.
Carter, the legendary former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair who founded Air Mail in 2019, is stepping down as part of the transaction. Julia Vitale, currently deputy managing editor, has been promoted to editor of Air Mail as Carter relinquishes his editorial reins. Co-editor Alessandra Stanley, a former New York Times reporter, is also departing.
Deal Structure and Valuation
The deal, which a source familiar with Puck’s finances confirmed is a combination of mostly stock and some cash, values Air Mail at $16 million—approximately half of the $32 million the company has raised since its launch. Air Mail shareholders will primarily receive Puck stock as part of the transaction.
The $16 million valuation represents a significant decline from earlier sale discussions. Reports that Air Mail was in talks to sell for around $50 million began surfacing in February 2024, when Standard Industries, a roofing company and early Air Mail investor, was reportedly negotiating an acquisition. Those talks ultimately fell apart, prompting Air Mail to engage boutique investment bank Raine to explore other sale options.
According to analysis conducted by Raine, subscriber overlap between Puck and Air Mail turned out to be in the single digits, far below initial estimates of 20 to 40 percent. “We were an elite that had and had few choices the post era,” Puck co-founder Jon Kelly explained. “We knew we were going to bid on this.”
Leadership Transition and Industry Connections
The acquisition marks a full-circle moment in the media industry. Kelly, who co-founded Puck in 2021, previously served as Carter’s assistant at Condé Nast-owned Vanity Fair, making the deal a reunion between mentor and protégé.
“Air Mail was always envisioned as the weekend edition to a digital daily news engine. And in Puck we have the perfect alignment,” Carter said in a statement. “Sharp, crisp reporting on their end and international coverage of politics, the arts, and interesting scandals on ours. We feel that with Jon Kelly and Sarah Personette, we have ideal partners.”
Kelly offered effusive praise for his former mentor in his own statement:
Graydon Carter is a titan and trailblazer of our industry and his decades of experience and success—inventing Spy, reinventing The New York Observer, and his heralded quarter century transformation of Vanity Fair into a cultural institution—has shaped Air Mail’s inimitable voice and look.
Despite these glowing public statements, media newsletter Breaker reported that Kelly and Carter were not on speaking terms in recent weeks as deal terms were being finalized. The tensions reportedly stemmed from differing visions for Air Mail’s future, with Carter hoping any acquirer would invest at the same level he had, while Puck appeared focused on operating as a straightforward digital media entity.
Financial Performance and Business Models
Both Puck and Air Mail are currently operating at losses, with the merger primarily involving a stock exchange. Puck is on track to make more than $20 million in revenue this year, with the majority coming from advertising and sponsorship sales. The company has nearly 50,000 paid subscribers and expects to reach profitability next year.
Air Mail, which launched in 2019 as a digital weekly for “worldly cosmopolitans,” has built an email list of more than 500,000 people, with approximately 50,000 believed to be paying subscribers, according to a sales deck titled “Project Aviator” reviewed by Breaker Media. An Air Mail subscription costs $9.99 per month, while a Puck membership is priced at $17 per month. The company has not yet announced new pricing or plans for integrating subscriber bases.
Air Mail raised $15 million in funding in 2019 and another $17 million in 2021. Since its launch in 2021, Puck has raised more than $17 million. Both publications share investors in Standard Investments, an investment arm of Standard Industries, and private equity giant TPG.
Content Strategy and Audience Integration
The deal will bring Air Mail’s lifestyle, culture, and travel content into Puck’s subscription platform, which is known for daily updates on Hollywood, fashion, and politics. Puck CEO Sarah Personette stated that the merger would unite “two of the most valuable audiences” across decision makers, business leaders, tastemakers, and cultural authorities.
For our subscribers, this means even more access to world class journalism spanning the sharp insider reporting they count on from Puck and the elegant cultural storytelling they love from Air Mail,” Personette said in a statement. “This combination is about amplifying what makes both brands special and delivering even greater value to our readers.
Air Mail was designed as a digital counterpart to Carter’s Vanity Fair, targeting a discerning audience with travel suggestions and lengthy articles on fashion, art, scandals, and politics. As columnist Maureen Dowd noted, the weekly issue arrives “like something wrapped in cashmere” every Saturday.
Operational Changes and Staff Transitions
Most Air Mail employees will remain with the company and become Puck employees as part of the transaction. However, cost-cutting measures are anticipated as the Air Mail staff prepares to relocate from its Greenwich Village townhouse to Puck’s offices in the Financial District, though Puck has stated that Air Mail’s physical location will remain operational.
At least five full-time Air Mail employees are currently exploring opportunities at other organizations, with some already departing. Harrison Vail, Air Mail’s communications head, has joined a communications advisory firm. Air Mail’s advertising team was reportedly thrown into disarray when Puck’s sales team reached out to Air Mail’s luxury brand clients, including Hermès and Prada, shortly after acquisition news broke.
Industry Implications
The acquisition reflects broader consolidation trends among niche, subscription-first digital media outlets. Carter and Kelly share a similar worldview that digital journalism brands should embody the aesthetic and editorial voice embraced in the glossy magazine era.
Carter is expected to remain in a limited consulting capacity before fully retiring at age 76. The publication’s future without Carter—whose identity is closely tied to the newsletter, with subject lines reading “Graydon Carter here…”—remains uncertain. Air Mail has established its own cultural footprint, notably appearing on Larry David in an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” but subscriber and advertiser retention post-Carter is yet to be determined.
The prevailing theory among industry observers is that combined operations might reduce losses or potentially yield profits in the future, particularly if Air Mail’s sales team overcomes hesitations about aligning with Puck and facilitates larger luxury brand partnerships.
Both publications targeted elite insider audiences with premium content, and the merger positions the combined entity to compete more effectively in the boutique newsletter publishing market. Puck was represented by Guggenheim Partners and Debevoise & Plimpton during the acquisition, while The Raine Group acted as Air Mail’s financial advisor and Proskauer Rose LLP served as legal counsel.
