VICE begins as 16-page zine in Montreal founded by Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi.

Suroosh Alvi types out ‘VOICE’ on a desktop computer using a font called “Mystical.” This is the first logo for what will become VICE Media. His friend, a graffiti artist, tells him it sucks, comes by the office, and spray paints it on the street out front in an attempt to make it better. They digitize a photo of the logo on their computer. Eventually the ‘O’ disappears, a few more tweaks here and there, and around 1996 the shape solidifies to what VICE uses today.

Listen to NPR’s How I Built This with Suroosh Alvi for more.

New York City has been VICE’s home and primary base of operations ever since.

VICE launches its first website under the domain viceland.com. It wouldn’t be till 2012 when the vice.com domain was acquired and the entire ecosystem could live under one digital roof.

VICE Records launches after Shane and Suroosh get Atlantic Records to hand over the record deal for The Streets, a hip-hop group from Birmingham. VICE Records goes on to release music from Bloc Party, Death from Above 1979, Justice, Black Lips, Chromeo, Action Bronson, and many more independent acts.

VICE Magazine makes its way across the Atlantic and launches in the UK. The following year, VICE opens up shop in London.

VICE expands to Asia-Pacific, opening offices in Melbourne in 2003 and Tokyo the following year.

After MTV turns down the travel stories VICE wants to make, The VICE Guide to Travel is created. Eventually, this evolves into The VICE Guide to Everything, a 30-minute documentary news show on MTV 2 that marks the first time VICE has appeared on the small screen.

Creative agency Virtue is founded as an antidote to traditional advertising. With presence in 21 countries, Virtue crafts campaigns, platforms, and IP for some of the most important brands on the planet.

Bolstered by the success of The VICE Guide to Travel, VICE launches its first all-original online video channel VBS.tv, with Spike Jonze as Creative Director.

VICE extends its global reach, opening offices in Paris and Amsterdam in 2007, Mexico City in 2008, and São Paolo in 2009.

VICE launches Motherboard, a site dedicated to science and technology. This represents VICE’s first specialized vertical tied to a specific subject.

Following the success of Motherboard, VICE teams up with Intel to launch The Creator’s Project, a content series focusing on art, creativity, and technology.

Dell sees the success of The Creator’s Project with Intel, and wants to make something similar, but in the category of music. So VICE launches Noisey, a vertical devoted to music and the people who make it.

VICE acquires the VICE.com domain and can finally house the entire VICE ecosystem under one digital roof. (VICELAND used to be the name of the website before it was purchased from a squatter. He used it as a porn site.)

Read more about this fiasco here.

i-D Magazine, the iconic British publication dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture, joins the VICE family.

Born out of a love for food and sharing it with friends, VICE launches MUNCHIES to capture the people behind the meals.

VICE News is launched to serve a global youth audience alienated by the tired news formulas of legacy media. Following the documentary series VICE on HBO, VICE launches VICENews.com in 2014, and the Emmy-winning newscast VICE News Tonight in 2016.

VICE creates Broadly, a vertical dedicated to everything from identity and LGBTQ, to astrology and witchcraft, to better address VICE’s growing audience.

VICE releases its first beer, Old Blue Last, named after a pub in London that VICE bought in 2004.

Learn more about The Old Blue Last, the bar, here, and the beer here.

With Spike Jonze at the helm, VICE launches the TV channel VICELAND as a home for people and their ideas. VICE also launches its first European networks in the UK and France, and APAC networks in Australia and New Zealand. VICELAND is called VICE TV outside of North America.

VICELAND is nominated for 2 Emmys in its first year for Gaycation with Ellen Page and Woman with Gloria Steinem.

Watch Spike Jonze talk about the creation of VICELAND here.

VICE acquires a majority stake in Pulse Films, an Emmy Award winning studio and creator of Scripted Film, & TV, Non-Fiction Film & TV, Commercials & Music Videos. The studios work includes Beyoncé’s Lemonade, 20,000 Days on Earth with Nick Cave, American Honey, The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, Aziz Ansari’s Right Now, and forthcoming drama series Gangs of London. Pulse Films is one of the top 5 producers of Commercials and Music Video creating campaigns for global brands and artists. The studio was founded by Thomas Benski and Marisa Clifford in 2005.

VICE Studios officially launches producing scripted and unscripted television and film with creators like Harmony Korine, Jim Carrey, Mirrah Foulkes and Gaspar Noé. VICE Studios has created premium content such as FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened for Netflix and The Report for Amazon featuring all-star cast Adam Driver, Annette Bening and Jon Hamm.

VICE’s Diversity and Inclusion Board of Directors launches and begins a new era for the VICE workplace and culture. VICE Impact and Community efforts create employee groups such as Women, People of Color, LGBTQIA+ and Parents @ VICE.

VICE’s global workforce is 50% men and 50% women and non-binary staff.

VICE begins its first operations in the Middle East with the launch of VICE Abu Dhabi and later VICE Dubai.

Nancy Dubuc joins VICE as CEO after serving on VICE’s Board of Directors since 2015. Prior to VICE, Dubuc was CEO of A&E, and during her time there she was instrumental in the launch of VICELAND.

Read Nancy’s first email to staff here.

VICE expands throughout Asia-Pacific with offices in Singapore, Mumbai and Seoul. Singapore becomes VICE’s Asia-Pacific hub.

VICE News Tonight becomes the most-nominated and highly-awarded nightly newscast at the 39th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards. In 2019, VICE News Tonight dominates for a second year in a row, earning a staggering 18 News & Documentary Emmy Award nominations, and 19 total nominations across VICE News.

The new VICE.com is unveiled, bringing all its award-winning digital content under one umbrella to unify and strengthen its offering to audiences and advertisers alike. While previously there were stand-alone verticals/brands/channels, the new VICE.com brings everything together with new featured sections in one unified user experience under the VICE masterbrand.

Because many blacklisted words cover issues like identity, sexuality, religion, and activism — all topics our audience deeply cares about — VICE removes 25 brand safety words on behalf of clients and audiences alike.

VICE News Tonight is brought home to VICELAND as the centerpiece of a primetime block on the channel. This bold move prioritizes the Emmy Award-winning nightly news show across the entire VICE ecosystem and beyond.

VICE News Tonight continues to dominate at the Emmys, bringing home 6 awards and breaking its own record set in 2018. VICE News Tonight remains the most awarded nightly news program.

Refinery29, the leading women-focused lifestyle and entertainment destination, joins VICE Media Group as a distinct voice in the portfolio while adding a complementary, influential new audience. With this move, VICE Media Group grows investment in premium content production across all divisions, increasing products and capabilities for brands and clients, and adding to the growing roster of creative talent to deliver relevant stories and experiences in this rapidly evolving media landscape.

For more, read Nancy’s internal staff memo about the announcement.