History of BuzzFeed in Timeline
BuzzFeed is an American internet media, news, and entertainment company established in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III. Headquartered in New York City, BuzzFeed initially concentrated on identifying and tracking viral content. It has since evolved into a prominent digital media platform encompassing news, entertainment, and various forms of online content. The company utilizes a data-driven approach to create and distribute content designed to be highly shareable across the internet.
2006: BuzzFeed Founded
In 2006, BuzzFeed was founded by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III in New York City, with the initial goal of tracking viral content on the internet.
2006: BuzzFeed Laboratories Launched
In 2006, Jonah Peretti started BuzzFeed, originally called BuzzFeed Laboratories, as a side project while working at the Huffington Post, partnering with John Johnson. Initially, it used an algorithm and BuzzBot, an instant messaging client, to identify and share viral content.
2008: BuzzFeed Raises $3.5 Million
In 2008, BuzzFeed raised $3.5 million through Hearst Ventures and SoftBank.
2010: BuzzFeed's Revenue in 2010
In 2010, before BuzzFeed ran more than 100 social media campaigns and tripled revenue in 2011.
December 2011: BuzzFeed News Division Begins
In December 2011, BuzzFeed's news division began with the appointment of Ben Smith as editor-in-chief.
2011: Ben Smith Hired to Build News Operation
In 2011, Ben Smith, formerly a political blogger from Politico, was hired to build a news operation in addition to the aggregated "listicles" on BuzzFeed.
2011: BuzzFeed's Revenue Triples
In 2011, BuzzFeed's revenue tripled compared to 2010 after running over 100 social media campaigns.
January 2012: BuzzFeed Earns $15.5 Million in Funding
In January 2012, BuzzFeed announced that it had earned $15.5 million in funding from various investors to expand the site's content.
June 2012: Accusations of Plagiarism Against Matt Stopera
In June 2012, Gawker's Adrian Chen observed that one of BuzzFeed's popular writers, Matt Stopera, frequently copied and pasted text into lists without attribution.
October 2012: BuzzFeed Runs Sponsored Content for Obama Administration
In October 2012, BuzzFeed ran sponsored content for the Obama administration, leading to an increase in ad revenue.
2012: Ze Frank Hired at BuzzFeed Video
In 2012, BuzzFeed Video hired Ze Frank, leading to the production of several video series, including "The Try Guys".
2012: BuzzFeed Acquires Kingfish Labs
In 2012, BuzzFeed's first acquisition was Kingfish Labs, a startup founded by Rob Fishman focused on optimizing Facebook ads.
January 2013: New Enterprise Associates Raises $19.3 Million
In January 2013, BuzzFeed announced that New Enterprise Associates had raised $19.3 million.
March 2013: Reports of Listicles Copied from Other Websites
In March 2013, The Atlantic Wire reported that several "listicles" on BuzzFeed had apparently been copied from Reddit and other websites.
May 2013: Launch of BuzzFeed Community Section
In May 2013, BuzzFeed launched the "Community" section of its website to enable users to submit content.
December 2013: BuzzFeed Ranks Top of NewsWhip's Rankings
From December 2013, BuzzFeed ranked at the top of NewsWhip's "Facebook Publisher Rankings".
2013: Mark Schoofs Hired as Head of Investigative Reporting
In 2013, Pulitzer Prize winner Mark Schoofs of ProPublica was hired as head of investigative reporting at BuzzFeed.
April 2014: Huffington Post Enters NewsWhip's Rankings
Until April 2014, BuzzFeed consistently ranked at the top of NewsWhip's "Facebook Publisher Rankings" from December 2013, until The Huffington Post entered the position.
July 2014: Benny Johnson Plagiarism Accusations and Firing
In July 2014, BuzzFeed writer Benny Johnson was accused of multiple instances of plagiarism, leading to his firing after 41 instances of plagiarism were found.
August 2014: BuzzFeed Motion Pictures Division Announced
In August 2014, BuzzFeed announced the creation of BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, a new division that would potentially produce feature-length films.
August 2014: BuzzFeed Raises $50 Million from Andreessen Horowitz
In August 2014, BuzzFeed raised $50 million from Andreessen Horowitz, which more than doubled previous funding rounds and valued the site at around $850 million.
October 2014: BuzzFeed Acquires Torando Labs
In October 2014, BuzzFeed announced its acquisition of Torando Labs, which became BuzzFeed's first data-engineering team.
October 2014: Pew Research Center Survey on BuzzFeed's Reliability
In October 2014, a Pew Research Center survey found that the majority of people in the United States viewed BuzzFeed as an unreliable source, regardless of political affiliation.
December 2014: General Atlantic Acquires $50 Million in BuzzFeed Stock
In December 2014, growth equity firm General Atlantic acquired $50 million in secondary stock of BuzzFeed.
2014: BuzzFeed Deletes Early Posts
In 2014, BuzzFeed deleted over 4000 early posts, as they looked "stupider and stupider" as time passed.
2014: BuzzFeed Launches Motion Picture Division
In 2014, BuzzFeed launched a motion picture division, initially led by Ze Frank, with Michael Shamberg and Jordan Peele as advisors.
2014: BuzzFeed's Social Media Traffic
In 2014, BuzzFeed received 75% of its views from links on social media outlets such as Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook.
February 2015: The Dress Color Debate
In February 2015, a post from BuzzFeed's Tumblr editor Cates Holderness sparked a massive debate over the color of a dress, garnering over 28 million views in one day and setting a record for concurrent visitors to a BuzzFeed post.
April 2015: BuzzFeed Deletes Posts Criticizing Advertisers
In April 2015, BuzzFeed faced criticism after deleting two posts critical of advertisers Dove soap and Hasbro. Ben Smith apologized for his actions and reinstated the posts with a note. Later, Arabelle Sicardi, one of the authors, resigned. An internal review found three additional posts deleted for criticizing Microsoft, Pepsi, and Unilever. This all happened in April 2015.
June 2015: BuzzFeed Changes Avatar to Rainbow Colors
In June 2015, BuzzFeed and other websites temporarily changed their social media avatars to rainbow colors to celebrate same-sex marriage being ruled constitutional in the United States.
2015: BuzzFeed Starts Podcasting Team
In 2015, BuzzFeed established an in-house podcasting team, leading to the development and launch of podcasts like Another Round and Internet Explorer.
February 2016: Scaachi Koul's Controversial Tweets
In February 2016, Scaachi Koul, a Senior Writer for BuzzFeed Canada, posted tweets requesting pitches mainly from "non-white non-men", leading to backlash and hate comments. Sarmishta Subramanian defended Koul's diversity request but raised concerns about potential tokenism. This occurred in February 2016.
April 8, 2016: BuzzFeed Interns' Watermelon Explosion Live Stream
On April 8, 2016, two BuzzFeed interns created a live stream on Facebook where they wrapped rubber bands around a watermelon until it exploded, gaining popularity as part of Facebook's shift to live video via Facebook Live.
June 2016: BuzzFeed's Coverage of Obama and Cancellation of RNC Ads
In June 2016, a report highlighted BuzzFeed's predominantly positive coverage of Barack Obama. During the same month, BuzzFeed cancelled an advertising agreement with the Republican National Committee due to "offensive remarks" made by Donald Trump.
August 2016: Alleged Meeting Between Michael Cohen and Russian Officials
In August 2016, according to the Steele dossier published by BuzzFeed in January 2017, it was alleged that Trump's attorney Michael Cohen met with Russian officials in Prague; Cohen vehemently denied this claim.
2016: BuzzFeed Among Least Trusted Sources by Millennials
According to a Pew report based on 2014 surveys, BuzzFeed was among the least trusted sources by millennials in 2016.
2016: BuzzFeed News had 20 Investigative Journalists
By 2016, BuzzFeed had 20 investigative journalists.
2016: BuzzFeed Separates News and Entertainment
In 2016, BuzzFeed formally separated its news and entertainment content into BuzzFeed News and the newly formed BuzzFeed Entertainment Group, including BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, with correspondents in 12 countries.
2016: Jim Parsons Cast in BuzzFeed's First Narrative Film
In 2016, Jim Parsons was cast as BuzzFeed reporter Matt Stopera in BuzzFeed's first narrative film, Brother Orange, based on a viral BuzzFeed article.
2016: NBCUniversal Invests Additional $200 Million
In 2016, NBCUniversal invested an additional $200 million in BuzzFeed following collaborations such as the Rio Olympics. The companies planned to work together to market to advertisers.
2016: Accusations of BuzzFeedVideo Stealing Content
In 2016, claims surfaced accusing BuzzFeedVideo on YouTube of stealing ideas and content from other creators.
2016: BuzzFeed Broke UK Advertising Rules
In 2016, the Advertising Standards Authority of the United Kingdom ruled that BuzzFeed violated advertising regulations by not clearly indicating that the article "14 Laundry Fails We've All Experienced" was an advertisement paid for by Dylon. The ASA acknowledged BuzzFeed's defense, which included the fact that links from the homepage and search results were labeled as "sponsored content", but the labeling "was not sufficient to make clear that the main content of the web page was an advertorial and that editorial content was therefore retained by the advertiser”.
2016: Tasty Sponsors "Worth It"
Since 2016, Tasty has sponsored a show named Worth It starring Steven Lim, Andrew Ilnyckyj, and Adam Bianchi.
January 2017: Criticism for Publishing the Steele Dossier
In January 2017, BuzzFeed faced widespread criticism for publishing the unverified Steele dossier, leading to Donald Trump calling BuzzFeed a "failing pile of garbage".
January 2017: BuzzFeed Releases Steele Dossier
In January 2017, BuzzFeed published the "Steele dossier", an unverified report containing allegations about Donald Trump. The release was met with criticism, with some calling it irresponsible journalism. Ben Smith defended the decision, citing its public importance. All of this happened in January 2017.
January 2017: BuzzFeed's Community Content Reaches 100 Million Views
In January 2017, BuzzFeed's user-generated community content accumulated 100 million views.
2017: BuzzFeed Employment Numbers Peak
By the end of 2017, BuzzFeed employed around 1,700 employees worldwide.
2017: BuzzFeed Lays Off Employees
In 2017, BuzzFeed laid off 100 employees as part of restructuring efforts.
2017: BuzzFeed Wins Webby Awards
In 2017, BuzzFeed received Webby Awards for Best News App and Best Interview/Talk Show (for Another Round). Greg Coleman was also named Publishing Executive of the Year by Digiday.
2017: BuzzFeed Voted Second Least Trustworthy Source
In 2017, a survey among US readers voted BuzzFeed as the second least trustworthy source among American readers.
June 2018: BuzzFeed Announces Layoffs in France
In June 2018, BuzzFeed announced plans to lay off approximately 100 employees in France as part of a wider restructuring effort.
June 2018: The Try Guys Leave BuzzFeed
In June 2018, The Try Guys (Eugene Lee Yang, Zach Kornfeld, Keith Habersberger, and Ned Fulmer) left BuzzFeed to create their own independent channel, also named "The Try Guys".
September 2018: BuzzFeed Shuts Down Podcast Department
In September 2018, BuzzFeed shut down its podcast department and laid off staff due to insufficient ad revenue, cancelling most of its podcasts, including See Something, Say Something.
2018: BuzzFeed News a Finalist for Pulitzer Prize
In 2018, BuzzFeed News was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in international reporting for an article that "proved that operatives with apparent ties to Vladimir Putin have engaged in a targeted killing campaign against his perceived enemies on British and American soil".
2018: BuzzFeed Raises Revenue
In 2018, BuzzFeed raised revenue by 15% from 2017.
2018: Cancellation of Night In/Night Out Series
In 2018, the Night In/Night Out series was cancelled after Ned and Ariel Fulmer left BuzzFeed with the Try Guys.
January 2019: BuzzFeed Announces Workforce Reduction
In January 2019, BuzzFeed announced a 15% reduction in its workforce.
January 2019: Unpaid Quiz Contributors
In January 2019, BuzzFeed's director of quizzes revealed that many popular quizzes were created by unpaid contributors. One college student in Michigan, Rachel McMahon, drove significant traffic but received minimal compensation, such as Amazon gift certificates and merchandise.
January 2019: BuzzFeed Fires Staff and Cancels Remaining Podcast
In late January 2019, BuzzFeed fired 200 staff members across the company and cancelled its remaining podcast, Thirst Aid Kit.
January 18, 2019: Mueller's Office Disputed BuzzFeed Report
On January 18, 2019, Robert Mueller's office disputed a BuzzFeed report claiming that Trump instructed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress, calling the report "not accurate".
January 23, 2019: BuzzFeed Announces Workforce Reduction
On January 23, 2019, BuzzFeed announced a 15% reduction in its workforce, affecting international, web content, and news divisions, resulting in approximately 200 employees being laid off.
February 2019: BuzzFeed News Votes to Unionize
In February 2019, BuzzFeed News voted to unionize after major layoffs, leading to a dispute with executives who failed to attend a meeting with the union.
July 2019: BuzzFeed Voluntarily Recognizes Employee Union
In July 2019, BuzzFeed announced that it would voluntarily recognize an employee union.
December 2019: Tasty's Facebook Following
As of December 2019, BuzzFeed's video series on comfort food, Tasty, had 100 million followers on Facebook.
2019: Steven Lim Leaves BuzzFeed
In 2019, Steven Lim departed BuzzFeed to start his own production company, Watcher, after starring in shows like Tasty's "Worth It".
2019: Bergara and Madej Start Watcher Entertainment
In late 2019, Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej, along with Steven Lim from Worth It, started their own digital production company, Watcher Entertainment.
March 25, 2020: BuzzFeed Announces Salary Cuts Due to COVID-19
On March 25, 2020, BuzzFeed announced employee salary cuts ranging from 5% to 25% due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Peretti forgoing his salary.
May 13, 2020: BuzzFeed Shuts Down UK and Australia Divisions
On May 13, 2020, BuzzFeed shut down its divisions in the UK and Australia, furloughing news staff.
June 2020: Ryan Broderick Fired for Plagiarism
In June 2020, BuzzFeed News senior reporter Ryan Broderick was terminated after it was discovered that he had "plagiarized or misattributed information in at least 11 of his articles."
November 19, 2020: BuzzFeed to Acquire HuffPost
On November 19, 2020, BuzzFeed announced it would acquire HuffPost in a stock deal that made Verizon Media a minority shareholder in BuzzFeed.
2020: BuzzFeed Signs Deal with Universal Television
In 2020, BuzzFeed signed a deal with Universal Television to produce content based on its stories.
2020: "Tasty" Streams Saturday Night Seder
In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, BuzzFeed's "Tasty" streamed the Saturday Night Seder, an online Passover Seder featuring celebrities to benefit the CDC Foundation.
June 2021: BuzzFeed Announces Plans to Go Public and Acquire Complex Networks
In June 2021, BuzzFeed announced its plans to go public via a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) and planned to acquire Complex Networks.
June 24, 2021: BuzzFeed to Go Public and Acquire Complex Networks
According to news from June 24, 2021, BuzzFeed, valued at $1.5 billion through a SPAC deal, is set to go public and acquire Complex Networks for $300 million.
September 1, 2021: BuzzFeed Video's YouTube Channel Views and Subscribers
On September 1, 2021, BuzzFeed Video's YouTube channel reached over 17.4 billion views and more than 20.3 million subscribers.
November 2021: End of BuzzFeed Unsolved Collaboration
In November 2021, Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej continued collaborating with BuzzFeed to produce BuzzFeed Unsolved until this date.
December 2021: BuzzFeed Public Listing
BuzzFeed's December 2021 public listing was done to finance acquisitions.
2021: Animation Lab's Follower Count
As of 2021, four successful projects from BuzzFeed's Animation Lab (Weird Helga, The Good Advice Cupcake, The Land of Boggs, and Chikn Nuggit) had a combined total of over 17 million followers.
2021: BuzzFeed News Wins Awards
By 2021, BuzzFeed News had received significant recognition for its investigative journalism, winning the National Magazine Award, the George Polk Award, and the Pulitzer Prize.
2021: BuzzFeed Raises $16.2M in Funding Round
In 2021, BuzzFeed raised $16.2M in its latest Post IPO funding round held on Dec 03, 2021.
2021: BuzzFeed Wins Pulitzer Prize
In 2021, BuzzFeed won a Pulitzer Prize in the international reporting category for an investigative series about the Xinjiang internment camps.
March 2022: BuzzFeed News Faces Resignations and Job Cuts
In March 2022, three top BuzzFeed News editors announced their resignations, and the newsroom faced voluntary layoffs or job cuts.
September 23, 2022: Watcher Entertainment Releases Ghost Files
On September 23, 2022, Watcher Entertainment released Ghost Files, a documentary entertainment web series and the spiritual successor to BuzzFeed Unsolved.
January 2023: BuzzFeed Announces AI Content Pivot
In January 2023, BuzzFeed announced a "hard pivot" to AI-generated content, focusing on custom quizzes.
April 20, 2023: BuzzFeed News Shuttered
On April 20, 2023, Jonah Peretti announced the closure of BuzzFeed News, with news efforts being focused on HuffPost, resulting in approximately 180 layoffs.
May 2023: Nasdaq Issues Delisting Notice
After initially listing on Nasdaq at $10 a share, in May 2023, BuzzFeed received a delisting notice from Nasdaq due to its share price falling under $1.
May 2023: AI Content to Replace Majority of Static Content
In May 2023, Peretti announced that AI content would “replace the majority of static content” on the BuzzFeed website.
November 2023: BuzzFeed Receives Further Extension from Nasdaq
In November 2023, having failed to raise its share price above $1 within the initial 180-day period, BuzzFeed was given a further 180 days by Nasdaq to comply with listing requirements.
January 2024: BuzzFeed's Stock Price Plummets
By January 2024, BuzzFeed's stock price had declined 98% since its initial listing, leaving the company worth around $37 million and significantly burdened with debt.
January 2024: Animation Lab Layoffs and Cancellations
In January 2024, layoffs within the Animation Lab team, including Loryn Brantz, led to the cancellation of Weird Helga and The Good Advice Cupcake.
February 2024: BuzzFeed Announces Sale of Complex to NTWRK
In February 2024, BuzzFeed announced the sale of Complex to NTWRK, a livestream shopping platform, while retaining some popular franchises. The company also considered selling Tasty.
May 2024: BuzzFeed Implements Reverse Stock Split
In May 2024, BuzzFeed implemented a 4:1 reverse stock split to bring its share price above the $1 threshold required by Nasdaq.
May 2024: Vivek Ramaswamy Acquires Stake in BuzzFeed
In May 2024, activist investor Vivek Ramaswamy acquired a 7.7% stake in BuzzFeed, becoming the fourth-largest shareholder, later increasing it to 8.37%.
July 2024: BuzzFeed Sells Travel-Brand Bring Me! to LOST iN
In July 2024, BuzzFeed sold its travel brand Bring Me! to media publisher LOST iN.
December 2024: BuzzFeed Sells First We Feast for $82.5 Million
In December 2024, BuzzFeed sold First We Feast, which produces the show Hot Ones, for $82.5 million to a consortium of investors.
2024: Richard Alan Reid Becomes President of BuzzFeed Studios
In 2024, Richard Alan Reid became president of BuzzFeed Studios.
2025: BuzzFeed had a net loss
In 2025, BuzzFeed had a net loss of $57.3 million.
2025: Brother Orange Released as a Documentary
In 2025, the movie Brother Orange, based on a viral BuzzFeed article, was released as a documentary.
March 2026: Nasdaq Threatens to Delist BuzzFeed Stock Again
By March 2026, BuzzFeed's stock price had fallen under $1 again, leading Nasdaq to threaten to delist the stock again.
March 2026: BuzzFeed Faces Liquidity Issues
In March 2026, BuzzFeed revealed it was burdened by legacy commitments and engaged in strategic conversations about relieving liquidity issues.
2026: Doubt About BuzzFeed's Ability to Continue as a Going Concern
In 2026, it was noted that BuzzFeed did not have enough resources to fund its cash obligations, stating that “there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
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