Roman Mars’ 99% Invisible Podcast Company Sold To SiriusXM

Peter White
·2 min read
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The company behind 99% Invisible, the podcast created by Roman Mars, has been bought by SiriusXM.

The satellite radio company has acquired the 99% Invisible Inc, which produced the eponymous podcast that exposes the unseen and overlooked aspects of design, architecture and activity that shapes the world as well as What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law, and it will become part of its podcast division Stitcher.

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The move will see Mars, who set up the podcast as a Kickstarter-backed independent series in 2010, develop new projects with SiriusXM’s backing.

99% Invisible joins other SiriusXM podcasts such as WTF with Marc Maron and Office Ladies.

Mars said that he explored a “number of potential homes” and was encouraged by Stitcher’s ability to launch new projects and help to free him of of thinking about the business of podcasting to focus on the creative.

“I have made a career by telling stories about what’s right in front of us, and in this case, it is the opportunity to grow and create with SiriusXM,” Mars said. “This journey, which started more than 10 years ago on public radio, is a testament to the power of storytelling, the incredibly talented 99pi team, and the dedicated army of Beautiful Nerds who we are fortunate to call our listeners. I’m incredibly proud of what we helped build at the Radiotopia network, the non-profit collective I co-founded with PRX, and look forward to the work we can do at SiriusXM.”

“We want to be home to the most creative producers working in podcasting today, so we couldn’t be more excited to welcome Roman and his team to Stitcher and SiriusXM,” added Megan Liberman, head of talk and podcast programming for SiriusXM and Stitcher. “SiriusXM built itself into North America’s leader in audio entertainment by attracting world-class talent. Bringing Roman and his team here is a natural extension of these efforts, and they will serve as a pillar as we continue building the most attractive home for podcast and audio creators.”

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as legal counsel to Sirius XM. AGM Securities, an affiliate of United Talent Agency, advised Roman Mars/99% Invisible, while Sklar Kirsh served as legal counsel.

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