This $475 million loan joined the $329 million loan Vice raised in 2022, a $9.8 million loan from JPMorgan Chase and a $21 million loan related to its acquisition of Pulse Films to comprise the bulk of its outstanding debt. In total, by May, Vice owed $834 million.

Vice World News collapses, and Vice declares bankruptcy

By this point, the company’s financial flexibility had grown so constricted that a missing payment from a key vendor triggered its collapse.

For years, the company had relied on its Vice World News operation to provide reliable revenue, and in 2022, it generated $134 million. 

However, when the primary commissioner of Vice World News content, a company called GMNC, failed to provide a $34 million payment in January, Vice found itself in a cash shortfall. 

Following a back and forth, GMNC agreed to pay Vice $50 million to terminate its contract. However, to stay liquid in the interim, Vice secured an additional $60 million loan.

Despite these measures, the episode derailed the company, and on April 27, Vice shut down Vice World News, eliminating more than 100 jobs in the process. Many of the affected staff have yet to receive severance. 

The next day, April 28, Vice awarded 11 executives over $1.13 million in bonuses. The payouts, revealed in separate court documents, were first reported by The Media Mix. 

Days later, on May 5, a legal judgment filed against Vice by a creditor restrained its ability to move money and froze its accounts with JPMorgan Chase, effectively cutting off its access to cash.

On May 15, Vice Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and it is now in the midst of a court-supervised sales process. The company—once worth $5.7 billion—could sell for as little as $225 million.