Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate and biotech entrepreneur, has bought a minority stake in Buzzfeed, a digital publishing company that shut down its media outlet last year.
Shares of New York City-based BuzzFeed surged about 20 percent to $2.99 on Wednesday.
Mr. Ramaswamy acquired a 7.7% stake in BuzzFeed, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Tuesday.
Ramaswamy said in the filing that he believes BuzzFeed stock is undervalued.
He wants to speak to the company’s board and management.
BuzzFeed has struggled to support sales since going public in 2021.
The company announced it would begin cutting jobs in late 2022, citing a poor digital advertising environment, and then close its Pulitzer Prize-winning digital media outlet early last year. BuzzFeed News.
In a memo to staff at the time, Jonah Peretti, co-founder and CEO of the parent company, said in a memo to staff at the time that in addition to the news division, layoffs would also occur in the business, content, technology and administrative teams. said.
Earlier this month, BuzzFeed reported first-quarter revenue of $44.8 million and a loss of $35.7 million, or 72 cents per share.
The company expects its earnings situation to worsen, with advertising revenue down 22% and content revenue down 19%.
In January, Ramaswamy suspended his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and endorsed former President Donald Trump, who came in a distant fourth place. Iowa leadoff caucuses.
The son of Indian immigrants, Mr. Ramaswamy charted and built a career while attending Harvard University and then Yale Law School, earning hundreds of millions of dollars at the intersection of hedge funds and pharmaceutical research before reaching the highest levels of politics. entered in.
