The publisher and chief executive officer of Newsweek, Dev Pragad, is at the center of a blistering lawsuit that paints a picture of betrayal, manipulation, and self-enrichment at the expense of the magazine’s founding investors.
Filed in the Supreme Court of New York’s Westchester County on August 5, 2025, the amended complaint is brought by six of the original co-owners who helped acquire and rebuild Newsweek in 2013 — Winnie Wong, Nancy Lee, Sylvia Lee, Younseok “Titus” Choi, James Yang, and Moonsoo “Martin” Jung. Together, they accuse Pragad of fraud, theft, and a calculated effort to seize the historic brand for himself, while siphoning millions of dollars out of the company and living a luxury lifestyle.
The plaintiffs say they, along with other early backers, rescued Newsweek from obsolescence, investing millions of dollars, years of labor, and their professional reputations to revive a magazine whose print edition had been shuttered and whose website did not exist. They relaunched Newsweek.com from scratch, returned the title to print, licensed it globally, and rebuilt its editorial operation with top-tier talent.
By contrast, they say, Dev Pragad contributed nothing to the acquisition or its early turnaround. His entry came in 2018 — five years after the purchase — when then-leader Etienne Uzac was under legal pressure from a Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation into IBT Media, the holding company for Newsweek.
According to the lawsuit, Pragad exploited this crisis by lobbying to take over as Newsweek‘s owner, telling co-venturers that the DA’s office had requested he be given the full ownership in order to “reduce the heat” on the company. Tony Lin, a witness present during key meetings, swore in an affirmation that this claim was made repeatedly in August 2018.
Years later, that justification collapsed. In 2023, former lead prosecutor Solomon Shinerock told attorney Adam Kaufmann — and through him, the plaintiffs — that no one in the Manhattan DA’s office had ever made such a request to Pragad or anyone else. The plaintiffs now describe Pragad’s DA story as pure fabrication, “designed solely to fraudulently induce” them into supporting his takeover.
In 2018, the group entered into a Joint Venture Agreement. On paper, Pragad would hold ownership of Newsweek through NW Media Holdings Corp., but only as a steward for the benefit of all joint venturers. He promised to report regularly on operations, share profits and losses equally, and — most critically — to return his stake for a nominal price if he ever left the partnership.
For several years, he attended weekly Sunday meetings at the group’s Dover Plains, NY offices to brief members and seek approvals. But by early 2022, tensions erupted. The group decided not to renew his three-year term and began preparing to return leadership to Uzac. The complaint alleges that Pragad resisted, tried to renegotiate the agreement to keep Newsweek, then abruptly severed ties in April 2022 — while keeping the magazine.
The plaintiffs say Pragad wasted no time consolidating his position and enriching himself. According to court filings, he:
They also accuse him of waging a legal and editorial harassment campaign against former partners, including instigating roughly 20 negative articles under the Newsweek brand.
In sworn statements, co-founders describe deep personal betrayal. James Kong, who invested $200,000 in 2013, calls Pragad’s claim of sole ownership a “clear breach” of their agreement. Developer Moonsoo Jung says Pragad’s tenure was marred by a 2018 BuzzFeed-reported digital ad fraud scandal and “shallow schemes for money,” while investor David Enwright calls him a “skillful liar” who “shamelessly stole Newsweek” without contributing “a cent” to its creation.
Others describe how Pragad courted their trust in small-town Sunday meetings, only to later turn on them. “He was supposed to return Newsweek if he severed ties with us,” Sylvia Lee said. “That is what was agreed upon during our Sunday meetings”.
The lawsuit seeks specific performance — a court order forcing Pragad to return Newsweek to its original ownership group — or alternatively to place it into a Delaware trust with no beneficial owners, ensuring it can never again be taken over for private enrichment. They also seek rescission of the 2018 agreement and restoration of all assets and consideration they gave to Pragad.
A parallel federal case in the Southern District of New York, led by Uzac and involving out-of-state investors, makes similar allegations of corporate theft. Together, the two suits depict a years-long strategy to turn a collaborative revival project into a personal empire — and a bitter fight over who truly owns one of the most recognizable names in American journalism.
As of publication, Pragad has not publicly responded to the allegations. If proven, the charges could amount to one of the most brazen corporate hijackings in recent media history, tarnishing not only the man at the center of the storm but the institution he now controls.
