Facebook co-founder buys New Republic magazine

Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook, listens to a question at the Charles Schwab IMPACT 2010 conference in Boston, Massachusetts October 28, 2010.

REUTERS - Chris Hughes, one of the co-founders of Facebook and a former online strategist for Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign, has purchased a majority stake in The New Republic, the magazine said on Friday.

Hughes, 28, will become publisher and editor-in-chief of the nearly 100-year old magazine which covers American politics.

He is also expected to apply his expertise in digital technology in his new role.

The New Republic currently publishes a daily Web magazine. The New Republic did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction or the exact size of the stake.

Hughes co-founded Facebook in 2004 at Harvard with his then- roommates Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz.

Since working on the Obama campaign Hughes founded Jumo.com in 2010, a non-profit site that aimed to help people find ways to help each other. It was later combined with GOOD in 2011, an online content and social engagement platform.

As well as his new role Hughes will continue to invest independently and work with non-profits like the Knight Foundation.

(Reporting By Yinka Adegoke, editing by Dave Zimmerman)