BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed, Inc. is a digital media company based in New York whose brands include BuzzFeed, Tasty and HuffPost. Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III started it in 2006 as BuzzFeed Laboratories, a side project Peretti ran while working at the Huffington Post, built around an algorithm that tracked viral content. It earned most of its revenue from native advertising and, after hiring Ben Smith as editor-in-chief in 2011, built BuzzFeed News, which won a Pulitzer Prize before it was closed in April 2023.

Hearst Ventures and SoftBank provided $3.5 million in 2008. In January 2012 BuzzFeed announced $15.5 million from New Enterprise Associates, Lerer Ventures, Hearst Interactive Media, SoftBank and RRE Ventures, and in January 2013 a $19.3 million round from New Enterprise Associates. Andreessen Horowitz invested $50 million in August 2014 at a reported valuation of about $850 million. General Atlantic bought $50 million of secondary stock in December 2014. NBCUniversal invested $200 million in August 2015 and another $200 million in 2016; Wikipedia reports Comcast and NBCUniversal together owned about a third of the company. In November 2020 BuzzFeed agreed to acquire HuffPost from Verizon Media in a stock deal.

On December 3, 2021 BuzzFeed completed its merger with 890 5th Avenue Partners, a special purpose acquisition company, acquired Complex Networks at the same time, and began trading on Nasdaq as BZFD at a valuation of about $1.5 billion. It also issued $150 million of 8.50% convertible notes due 2026. Revenue was $397.6 million in 2021. The shares later fell below $1 and drew Nasdaq deficiency notices, and the 2025 annual report disclosed a $57.3 million net loss and substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern. On May 27, 2026 Allen Family Digital, an affiliate of Byron Allen's family office, acquired about 51% of the shares by buying 40 million new shares at $3.00 each for $120 million, paid as $20 million in cash and a $100 million five-year note. Allen became chairman and chief executive, and Peretti became president of BuzzFeed AI. The company remains listed.

BuzzFeed shows the limits of venture-scale returns in digital media. Late investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and NBCUniversal bought in at private valuations near or above the $1.5 billion SPAC value, and the stock lost most of its value after listing. Earlier backers including Lerer Ventures, Hearst, SoftBank and New Enterprise Associates entered at far lower prices, about fifteen years before the 2021 listing.