Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is calling for big changes at BuzzFeed — from adding new board members to cutting staff and hiring right-wing talent — after taking an activist stake in the company.
In a letter to BuzzFeed’s board of directors on Monday, Ramaswamy argued that the company has “lost its way” and “requires a major shift in strategy.”
The conservative businessman now owns an 8.37% stake in BuzzFeed, making him the company’s second-largest Class A shareholder, according to the letter.
The former Republican candidate asked BuzzFeed in Monday’s letter to invest in talent from “across the political and cultural spectrum,” such as conservative commentators Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson, as well as NFL player Aaron Rodgers, who is known for engaging in conspiracy theories.
Ramaswamy also called on BuzzFeed to admit that it has “repeatedly lied about issues of national importance, just like the rest of the media” and urged the company to add three new directors to its board to increase “intellectual diversity” in its leadership.
“While your competitors focus on racial and gender diversity in the boardroom, you can become the first media company to expressly select a diversity of viewpoints in its ranks,” he wrote.
“The three new directors who have expressed interest in joining your board will represent a first step in the right direction,” added Ramaswamy.
He also argued that BuzzFeed needs to “get back to startup size,” which he said will likely require “large-scale reductions in headcount.” The company already reduced 16% of its workforce earlier this year.
BuzzFeed co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti responded to Ramaswamy’s letter, suggesting he had “some fundamental misunderstandings about the drivers of our business, the values of our audience, and the company’s mission.”
“I’m very skeptical that it makes business sense to turn BuzzFeed into a creative platform for fiery political pundits,” Peretti said in an email. “And we definitely won’t apologize for our Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism.”
“That said, I welcome outside shareholder perspectives and am open to hearing more from you,” he added.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
