---

Joe Budden and Ian Schwartzman on Selling the Podcast: “Not in a Rush”

In a Forbes interview, Joe Budden and business partner Ian Schwartzman addressed the question every growing media company eventually faces: would they ever cash out and sell?

Budden was blunt — they’ve had the conversations and the offers, but the numbers haven’t moved him. “I’m not just taking money because it’s there,” he said, adding that any buyer would only want him around temporarily anyway, not as a permanent fixture of the brand they’d just bought.

Schwartzman framed the decision as less about money and more about mindset. After a decade of building something they love — traveling, working with friends, staying creatively engaged — he sees no reason to rush the exit. He pointed to friends who retired early and lost their sense of purpose, alone in big houses once their kids left for college. “I want to go to work,” he said simply.

Both partners, 45 and 39, believe they’re still early in the podcast’s runway — estimating another 10 to 20 years of growth ahead as technology reshapes the media landscape and a new generation of creators and listeners comes up. Schwartzman said he believes in the genre’s direction, his own ability to innovate within it, and the audience’s continued appetite for it.

Budden also teased near-term news: a public listing in the coming weeks that he expects will meaningfully shift the show’s trajectory. He closed by making a broader point about the podcast business — much like independent music, success doesn’t require millions of listeners, just a committed core audience willing to grow with you.

Bottom line: No sale is on the table. Budden and Schwartzman are betting on another decade-plus of building rather than cashing out now.

---