finance
Byron Allen Acquires Controlling Stake in BuzzFeed for $120 Million and Becomes CEO
Byron Allen is acquiring a controlling stake in BuzzFeed in a $120 million deal and will replace co-founder Jonah Peretti as chief executive. Peretti, who started the company 20 years ago, will step down but remain as president of A.I. Significant cost cuts are planned at the digital media company, which was once valued as high as $1.7 billion.
May 11, 6:48 PM·1m read3 sources
The GuardianAudio version
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Byron Allen is buying a controlling stake in BuzzFeed for $120 million and will take over as CEO, the company announced on Monday. The deal marks a major shift for the digital media pioneer. Jonah Peretti, who co-founded BuzzFeed 20 years ago, will step down as chief executive.
I. at BuzzFeed. Allen, a media entrepreneur and on-screen personality, controls Allen Media Group. He owns the parent company of The Weather Channel. Allen often makes large, sometimes unsolicited bids for media companies.
7 billion amid a private equity-funded wave of interest in websites that generated massive amounts of online traffic in the 2010s. The $120 million sale reflects a sharp decline from that peak. Significant cost cuts are planned at BuzzFeed under the new ownership.
Allen will now be majority owner of the company, with plans to rival YouTube as a destination for video content. Separately, Allen’s show Comics Unleashed will replace the Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS’s schedule starting later this month. The leadership transition ends Peretti’s two-decade run at the helm of the company he helped build into a digital media powerhouse before its valuation collapsed in recent years.
I. signals the company’s continued focus on emerging technology even as it implements cost reductions. Allen Media Group’s ownership of networks including The Weather Channel gives the incoming CEO substantial television and weather-related assets that could be leveraged alongside BuzzFeed’s digital audience.
The billionaire comedian brings both business holdings and on-air experience to the role.
