Having tried with limited success to carve out a niche in the men's market, Giant founder Jamie Hooper is cashing out. According to sources, Hooper, a former publisher of Maxim and Stuff, has reached a deal to sell Giant to Radio One, a publicly-traded media company with some 70 urban-oriented radio stations. Hooper declined to comment, but sources believe he has been under increasing pressure from his principal backer, Dallas-based venture capitalist Mort Meyerson—who also happens to be his father-in-law. A former business partner of Ross Perot's, Meyerson initially staked Hooper with a $10 million-plus investment. "Giant hasn't really done what Jamie told him it would do," says one source who knows Hooper. "It must've made for an awkward Thanksgiving."

Indeed, while Giant was launched, in 2004, as a humorous entertainment magazine for slightly geeky guys in their 20s, it was jarringly repositioned earlier this year, under new editor Smokey Fontaine, as an urban music and fashion title. Radio One will keep Fontaine's team in place for the time being, leaving Hooper free to walk.

Sources close to him speculate that he may leave the magazine business altogether for a career in political fundraising. Says one Giant insider, "Jamie's gotta be thanking his lucky fucking stars."