Former Disney Exec Ben Sherwood, Joanna Coles To Run The Daily Beast In Strategic Partnership With Barry Diller’s IAC

deadline.com:

IAC, the Barry Diller-owned company that controls The Daily Beast, has landed a strategic partnership with former Disney executive Ben Sherwood and Hearst veteran Joanna Coles to define the digital publication’s next chapter in a struggling media climate.

Effective immediately, Sherwood will serve as publisher and CEO and Coles as chief creative and content officer. As strategic partners, both will share a substantial interest in the company but specific terms of the partnership were not disclosed. “These are tough times for digital journalism, but the combined experience, expertise and energy of Ben and Joanna have made me an optimist about their ability to make The Beast an enduring and successful enterprise,” said Barry Diller, who is IAC’s chairman and senior executive. “Timing is everything, and the current media hellstorm feels like the ideal moment to jump back into journalism,” said Sherwood, who formerly served as co-chairman of the Disney Media Networks and president of the Disney ABC Television Group, overseeing the company’s global entertainment, news and cable properties.

He also worked as president of ABC News, executive producer of Good Morning America and senior broadcast producer of NBC Nightly News.

More recently, he founded sports technology startup MOJO, which was sold to TeamSnap in December of 2023.  “Everything feels upside down right now with busted business models and transformative technology.