Byron Allen Closes BuzzFeed Acquisition, Says Company Is Now ‘Officially Chasing YouTube’

Media entrepreneur and stand-up comedian Byron Allen now is the majority owner of BuzzFeed — the struggling digital media player that Allen plans to use to launch a free-streaming platform that he imagines will rival video colossus YouTube. “Our vision is to build on the iconic foundation of BuzzFeed and HuffPost by expanding into free-streaming video, audio and user-generated content,” said Allen, who is now chairman and CEO of BuzzFeed after buying approximately 51% of its outstanding shares in a $120 million deal. “As of this moment, with the power of AI, BuzzFeed is officially chasing YouTube to become another premier free-streaming video service.” With Allen taking over the company, BuzzFeed founder and former CEO Jonah Peretti has taken on the newly created role as “president of BuzzFeed AI.” The company said that in the new role, Peretti “will bring his strategic focus to applied AI research, product innovation and the development of new technology-driven media formats.” Popular on Variety Peretti called Allen “a force of nature and an incredible media mogul” and said his skills “are very complementary to mine.” Allen’s “deep relationships with advertisers, partners and sources of capital free me to focus on what I’ve always loved
Read More