New BuzzFeed Investor Vivek Ramaswamy Asks For Big Changes & Apology

deadline.com:

Vivek Ramaswamy, who disclosed a big stake in BuzzFeed last week, sent a letter to the online publisher’s board of directors asking for major changes from staffing and focus to the board makeup as well as an apology for previous reporting.

CEO Jonah Peretti declined the mea culpa but agreed to meet with the former Republican presidential primary candidate and Donald Trump surrogate, whom he said has some “fundamental misunderstandings” of the company’s business. “Hey Vivek – Thanks for reaching out, nice to finally hear from you.

I’m glad you think BuzzFeed is undervalued – I totally agree!,” he wrote. BuzzFeed went public in 2021 after merging with a SPAC.

Ramaswamy disclosed last week he’s acquired well over 8% of the company, making him one of the company’s largest individual shareholders. “BuzzFeed needs a complete ground-up restructuring to right-size itself for the coming AI-driven changes to your business,” he wrote today in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “After getting back to startup size, invest further in places where BuzzFeed has a competitive advantage: creator-led audio & video content.