Texas Monthly — the "National Magazine of Texas" — has been bought by billionaire oil and gas heiress Randa Duncan Williams.

Williams is purchasing the Austin-based monthly magazine from Genesis Park, a private equity firm founded by Paul Hobby. She is chair of the newly formed company, Texas Monthly LLC. With the sale, Texas Monthly will change hands from one prominent Texas family to another.

The private companies would not disclose the price or terms of the deal. The transaction is effective June 30.

Williams said in a statement that she's read Texas Monthly since she was a teenager. As the new owner, she plans to step up investment in its journalism, marketing of subscriptions and expansion into other kinds of storytelling, such as podcasts and live events.

"My family is delighted to provide the resources to support this iconic Texas institution, which is nationally recognized for its editorial flair," Williams said in a statement. "The journalistic integrity and quality for which Texas Monthly is known will remain unchanged as we build upon what Genesis Park has done over the past two years."

With its new owner, Texas Monthly will mirror several major publications across the country that have gotten an infusion of capital from wealthy families. Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013. Philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, wife of the late Steve Jobs, became the majority owner of The Atlantic in 2017. Salesforce's CEO Marc Benioff bought Time magazine for $190 million in cash last year.

Dan Goodgame, editor-in-chief of Texas Monthly, said Williams' ownership will offer the same kind of "patient capital" that's helping those publications thrive as they transition from legacy print publications to sustainable, digital-savvy businesses. He said he's pleased that Williams is also committed to investing in the print magazine, which has a loyal audience.

"They realize the business is in flux for pretty much all of news media, and they understand it is going to require some patient investment and experimentation, and they are up for that," he said.

It is the second sale of Texas Monthly in less than three years. Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications sold the magazine for $25 million in October 2016 to Genesis Park. The Houston-based private equity firm was founded by Paul Hobby, who has deep roots in Texas politics. He's the grandson of former Texas governor William P. Hobby and the son of former lieutenant governor and University of Houston System chancellor Bill Hobby. The Hobby family owned The Houston Post before it became part of the Houston Chronicle in 1995.

Texas Monthly has 270,000 print subscribers and 19,000 online-only subscribers. It has 72 employees, including 32 people on the editorial side of the publication. It was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, who was also its publisher. He sold the company to Emmis for $37 million in 1998.

Texas Monthly's print subscriptions have decreased, but its overall audience is expanding, its president, Scott Brown, said. Its website has about 1.7 million unique visitors each month. From November 2016 to June 2019, he said its total audience — including print and online readership, social media following and event attendees — increased 76%. It's developing two podcasts and would like to see more of its stories become TV shows or movies on streaming services, he said.

Randa Duncan Williams ( Texas Monthly)

In the last few years, the magazine has struggled with staff turnover, leadership changes and allegations that bruised its public image. Its former editor-in-chief, Brian Sweany, left months after Genesis Park became the magazine's owner. Its new editor, Tim Taliaferro, faced backlash after telling Columbia Journalism Review that the magazine would shift coverage to a lifestyle focusand allegations that he put the founder of Austin-based dating website, Bumble, on the magazine cover after a pay-for-play arrangement. He said his comments to CJR were taken out of context and denied the pay-for-play allegations.

Texas Monthly moved Taliaferro into a chief innovation officer role and appointed Rich Oppel, a former Austin American-Statesman editor, as interim editor-in-chief. It named Goodgame its new editor in January.

Goodgame said he's focused on proving to readers that the magazine remains committed to high-quality journalism.

“All of us realize when you even give the appearance of loss of editorial independence, you’re in the penalty box for awhile," he said. "The way you work your way out of it is by every day and every month demonstrating that independence. That’s what we have been doing."

Hobby said Genesis Park did not plan to sell the magazine as quickly as it did. He said Genesis Park was approached with a serious offer in its first six months of owning the magazine. But, he said, before selling the magazine, he wanted to set it up for the future by expanding into other businesses. Among the changes, the company launched a series of live storytelling events, Texas Monthly Live, cultivated relationships with Hollywood talent for TV productions and developed "Underdog," a podcast about the Senate race between Beto O'Rourke and Sen. Ted Cruz. It also put up a paywall on its website in February.

When Genesis Park bought Texas Monthly, its website and events accounted for only 14% of its total revenue. Today they account for 40% of its revenue, Goodgame said.

Williams, 57, of Houston is the chair of Enterprise Products Partners, a pipeline giant founded by her late father, Dan Duncan, in 1968. She and her three siblings inherited equal stakes in the company, but Williams has had a more active role, according to Forbes. She joined the family business in 1994 and became president and CEO of Enterprise Products in 2001. Her net worth is $6.3 billion, according to Forbes.

Texas Monthly will be an affiliate of Enterprise Products Co., the Duncan family holding company that has also invested in commercial real estate and ranching. It has a significant stake in Enterprise Products Partners.

Hobby said Genesis Park worked with Goldman Sachs to reach out to potential buyers, including Williams. He said she's the right person to become its permanent owner because of her love of the magazine and commitment to editorial independence.

"Our ownership interval was a little shorter than we would have expected, but the outcome is so ideal that that's not much to complain about," he said.