Insider CEO Henry Blodget was spotted earlier this month at the Daily Beast’s offices, sparking rumors that Insider’s owner Axel Springer is in talks to buy the news site controlled by billionaire Barry Diller, The Post has learned.
According to sources, Blodget met with Daily Beast CEO Heather Dietrick and editor-in-chief Tracy Connor roughly two weeks ago at the beehive-shaped, Frank Gehry-designed headquarters of IAC, Diller’s tech and media conglomerate, in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.
“It’s always a pleasure to visit the amazing IAC building and the charming and talented people inside!” Blodget told The Post in a Wednesday email.
Indeed, while Blodget didn’t visit the newsroom, some staffers were taken aback at the apparent lack of discretion.
“No surprise here that reporters want to learn about what’s happening behind closed doors regarding sales talks,” a newsroom source told The Post. “Of course, that becomes much easier when Blodget’s spotted in plain sight.”
Daily Beast owner IAC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Early Wednesday afternoon, a Daily Beast reporter told colleagues in a Slack message seen by The Post that management has told the newsroom’s union that “there is no sale ‘in the works at this time.’”
According to a source, “anxiety is high” among staffers since Blodget was spotted and sale rumors leaked out in January.
“Management is tight-lipped, but now there are rumors that even management thinks it’s only a matter of time before the Beast is sold off,” the source added.
Inside the newsroom, there’s also worry that Blodget would fold the scrappy, tabloid site into its data-driven behemoth, Insider, which is known for ranking stories by awarding them “impact points,” an in-house measurement meant to reflect how prestigious a story is based on how much and where it is shared.
“Blodget at the Beast would be hilarious,” another source added. “‘Sir, sir, sir, can I please show you my impact points?’”
Last month, Dietrick scrambled to tamp down fears that the site is on the block after the New York Times reported that Daily Beast parent IAC has tapped advisory firm Whisper Advisors to explore a sale.
At the time, Dietrick told employees in a memo that was leaked to The Post: “I wanted to follow up on the New York Times story today. It isn’t surprising that — particularly after our successes of the last few years — other media companies may have expressed interest in The Daily Beast, or that IAC would be having conversations.”
The CEO added: “I know a rumor like this can be unsettling, but I can say with confidence that there is no cause for panic here.”
Some staffers are hoping that Diller has become less interested in selling the site in recent weeks. In an interview with PBS earlier this month, Diller praised the Beast’s journalism and said he wanted to make sure there’s “always enough funding for that to happen.”
“It ain’t an easy path. But nevertheless, it’s what we got and we better treasure it and improve it … and not allow it to be captured by either side of extreme forces,” Diller said before addressing sale rumors.
“I hope very much that if we do sell it, we will be selling it into an enterprise that will grow it and not strip it. That I really don’t want to do. I think — I will resist that a lot.”
Axel Springer has made a slew of acquisitions in recent years, including its deal to buy Politico in 2021. Blodget sold Insider — then known as Business Insider — to Axel Springer for $343 million in 2015. Sources speculated that Axel Springer may also be weighing a deal to take a stake in the left-leaning site, allowing Diller to remain part-owner.
Last year, Insider under Blodget’s direction partnered with Axios to invest in podcast company Spooler, part of several joint investments between the two companies under the fund “Axel Springer Insider Ventures.” At the time, Blodget said the new fund is on the hunt for investments.
Diller — whose IAC is known for other successful spinoffs including Expedia and the Match Group dating empire — has owned the Daily Beast for 14 years since he co-founded the site with editor Tina Brown.
Despite employing a relatively small staff of about 100 journalists, the Beast draws around 15 million visitors a month, according to comScore. Nevertheless, the site has struggled financially, turning to digital subscriptions to grow revenue. Currently, the company charges $4.99 a month for unlimited access to its coverage.
The gossip and news site is the subject of a lawsuit against a former editorial director of Gawker, who sued the company in 2020 for defamation. The Daily Beast has stood by its reporting.
Diller’s reported move to sell the Daily Beast comes as the advertising market is squeezing media companies. Diller’s IAC acquired a host of magazines from Meredith Corp. in 2021, including digital sites People, Better Homes and Gardens, and Southern Living.
Last year, IAC said it was closing the print editions of Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, EatingWell, Health, Parents and People en Español. Last month, Dotdash Meredith, the division that oversees the company’s magazines, said it was laying off roughly 7% of its workforce, amounting to 274 job cuts.
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