Richelieu Dennis's ESSENCE Ventures buys into REVOLT's parent company

ESSENCE Ventures has bought a minority stake in Offscript Worldwide, the parent company of REVOLT, in a deal that hands Richelieu Dennis a seat on the board and combines two of the largest Black-owned media portfolios in the United States.

The investment covers Revolt New Media Holdings LLC. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Dennis is founder and chairman of Sundial Media and Technology Group, the parent of ESSENCE Ventures. Offscript and REVOLT will continue operating independently under chief executive Detavio Samuels, with the relationship built around advertising rather than operational integration.

The combined reach is the commercial case. Sundial holds ESSENCE, Girls United, ESSENCE Studios, the ESSENCE Festival of Culture, Refinery29, AFROPUNK and Beautycon. Offscript brings REVOLT, REVOLT Sports, 3BLACKDOT, Rap-Up, 440 Artists, Six Zeros and the Offscript Creator Network.

Between them they cover music, women's lifestyle, beauty, creators, sports, gaming, technology and live events, giving advertisers one point of access to audiences that have historically been bought in fragments.

Kirk McDonald, chief executive of Sundial, framed it as correcting a long-standing gap. "For generations, Black-owned media has punched above its weight, shaping culture while being underinvested relative to the value it creates around the world," he said, arguing that scale gives advertisers greater access while preserving independent ownership and audience trust.

Samuels was blunter. "Black-owned media has never meant a Black-only audience, and this ecosystem is proof at scale," he said. "Offscript Worldwide and REVOLT built the audiences driving youth culture across music, gaming and sports. Sundial Media Group adds cross-cultural, multigenerational women's audiences. For advertisers, that's not a niche buy. That's access to culture itself."

Live events are central to the pitch. The most recent ESSENCE Festival of Culture drew a collective audience of 500,000, a figure both companies are using to argue that physical gatherings hold value in an advertising market increasingly mediated by artificial intelligence.

Dennis built his fortune in hair care rather than media. He co-founded Sundial Brands, whose SheaMoisture line grew from a business his grandmother started in Sierra Leone, and sold it to Unilever in 2017 in a transaction reported at more than $1 billion. He used the proceeds to acquire ESSENCE from Time Inc. that year, returning the magazine to Black ownership after nearly two decades.

He has since assembled a portfolio well beyond publishing, adding Refinery29 in 2024 and expanding into technology, commerce and live experiences. The Offscript investment continues an active run. Sundial announced a creative partnership with Sonic Gods Studios a week earlier to develop original entertainment properties across streaming, television and digital platforms.

Offscript itself was formed in April 2025, absorbing REVOLT alongside 440 Artists in music management, Rebel House in creator management and Six Zeros in brand and experiential marketing, under a structure designed to let creators retain ownership of their platforms and intellectual property while using shared infrastructure and distribution.

Sean Combs founded REVOLT in 2013 but has no stake in it. His shares were fully redeemed and retired in June 2024, after which employees became the largest shareholder group, and the company said the two were completely separated.

Neither party has disclosed what proportion of Revolt New Media Holdings ESSENCE Ventures now owns, or whether the arrangement contemplates a larger position later.