BuzzFeed News seeks philanthropic support from the Emmerson Collective
BuzzFeed News editor Ben Smith has reportedly held discussions with philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, founder of the Emerson Collective, about a potential investment in the digital media platform.
BuzzFeed News seeks potential Powell Jobs Group investment
According to the Financial Times these overtures are at an early stage and come amidst a period of retrenchment at BuzzFeed which has been forced to let a third of its UK staff go as part of a global round of redundancies.
The internet media site has been forced to seek out alternative funding streams in the wake of changes to Facebook’s news feed which deprioritize professional content in favour of posts from friends and family.
A resultant hit to native advertising revenues have forced it to diversify with a 'multi-revenue model' focussed on ecommerce, videos and licensing - together with an expansion into China.
Powell Jobs, late wife of Apple’s Steve Jobs, has a net worth of $20bn and recently agreed to take a majority stake in The Atlantic magazine.