Business site Quartz has a new owner.
It has been sold to G/O Media, the publisher of Gizmodo, AV Club, Jezebel and The Root, among others, for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition marks the third time the site has changed hands since its inception in 2012 under Atlantic Media, which sold Quartz in 2018 to Uzabase, a publicly traded Japanese media company. Cofounder Zach Seward and editor in chief Katherine Bell took Quartz private two years later in a management buyout.
“Quartz’s greatest strengths — our global newsroom and audience, our high-quality advertising work and our email expertise — will help propel G/O’s next phase of growth. G/O, meanwhile, will help us reach a lot more people across its network and unlock new revenue streams that we couldn’t on our own. And we will make this combination without any reduction in jobs,” said Quartz chief executive officer Seward in a memo prepared for Quartz’s staffers.
He explained that after taking Quartz private in 2020, executives had sought to raise money with selling not being the plan, but it became the best path for Quartz, when they started talking to G/O earlier this year.
Like many other digital media companies, Quartz has struggled amid the ever-changing media landscape, which has seen companies slashing marketing budgets, more ads being swallowed up by Facebook and Google and venture capitalist investors’ waning interest in digital media. As a result, many have merged, including Vox Media and Group Nine Media and BuzzFeed and Complex Networks.
In the case of Quartz, The New York Times reported that it lost about $6.9 million in 2021.
Seward insisted that there are no layoffs connected to the sale, but revealed that Bell, who has helmed the newsroom since January 2020, would be stepping down, although she will continue as an adviser to Quartz. Seward will take on the role of editor in chief.
“This is an exciting new role for me: I’ve worn many hats in a decade at Quartz, but never had the privilege of leading our newsroom. I’m excited to get back into news and work alongside our executive editors, Kira Bindrim, Heather Landy, Walt Frick and Francesca Donner,” he added.
Of the sale, G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller said: “Acquiring Quartz adds to our already unparalleled portfolio of sites that are beloved by readers and embraced by advertisers. The digital business news space is an area ripe for investment and synergies with our other G/O Media sites. Quartz’s commitment to quality and mission-driven journalism embodies the values espoused in all of our brands, and I look forward to working with the talented Quartz team to grow the business to new levels of success.”
In 2019, G/O Media, formerly Gizmodo Media Group, was acquired by private equity firm Great Hill Partners and it has not been all smooth sailing. Many top editors exited the company after the sale. Most recently, there has reportedly been high staff turnover at The Root over the past year due to G/O Media’s executives involvement in the site, while a number of staffers have also departed from Jezebel.
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