History of BuzzFeed in Timeline

BuzzFeed is an American internet media, news, and entertainment company founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III. It focuses on tracking and creating viral content for a digital audience. Kenneth Lerer, also a co-founder of The Huffington Post, is the executive chairman and was an early investor. Headquartered in New York City, BuzzFeed is known for its diverse range of content, including news, listicles, quizzes, and videos, distributed across various online platforms.

2006: BuzzFeed Founded

In 2006, BuzzFeed was founded by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III with the initial goal of tracking viral content on the internet. The company was based in New York City.

2006: BuzzFeed Launched as Side Project

In 2006, Jonah Peretti started BuzzFeed (originally called BuzzFeed Laboratories) as a side project in partnership with John Johnson, employing an algorithm to identify viral stories and later launching BuzzBot, an instant messaging client, to share popular content.

2008: BuzzFeed Raised $3.5 Million

In 2008, BuzzFeed raised $3.5 million through Hearst Ventures and SoftBank.

2010: Revenue Milestone

In 2010, BuzzFeed had a certain revenue, and in 2011, the revenue tripled compared to 2010.

December 2011: News Division Began

BuzzFeed's news division began in December 2011 with the appointment of Ben Smith as editor-in-chief.

2011: Ben Smith Hired as Editor-in-Chief

In 2011, Ben Smith from Politico was hired as editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed to expand the site into long-form journalism under the BuzzFeed News banner.

2011: Ben Smith Hired to Build News Operation

In 2011, Ben Smith was hired to assemble a news operation at BuzzFeed in addition to the aggregated listicles, expanding the site's content focus.

2011: Revenue Tripled

In 2011, BuzzFeed's revenue tripled compared to 2010 after running more than 100 social media campaigns.

January 2012: $15.5 Million in Funding Received

In January 2012, BuzzFeed announced it had earned $15.5 million in funding from New Enterprise Associates, Lerer Ventures, Hearst Interactive Media, SoftBank, and RRE Capital to expand the site's content.

June 2012: Allegations of plagiarism against Matt Stopera

In June 2012, Gawker's Adrian Chen observed that one of BuzzFeed's most popular writers—Matt Stopera—frequently copied and pasted "chunks of text into lists without attribution."

July 17, 2012: McSweeney's publishes "Suggested BuzzFeed Articles"

On July 17, 2012, McSweeney's Internet Tendency published a satirical piece entitled "Suggested BuzzFeed Articles", which led BuzzFeed to create many of the suggestions. The post received significant attention, leading to the launch of the "Community" section later on.

October 2012: Sponsored Content for Obama Administration

In October 2012, BuzzFeed ran sponsored content for the Obama administration, leading to an increase in ad revenue.

2012: Acquired Kingfish Labs

In 2012, BuzzFeed's first acquisition was Kingfish Labs, a startup focused on optimizing Facebook ads.

2012: Ze Frank Hired

Since hiring Ze Frank in 2012, BuzzFeed Video has produced several video series, including "The Try Guys".

January 2013: New Enterprise Associates Raised $19.3 Million

In January 2013, BuzzFeed announced that New Enterprise Associates had raised $19.3 million.

March 2013: The Atlantic Wire reports copied "listicles"

In March 2013, The Atlantic Wire also reported several "listicles" had apparently been copied from Reddit and other websites.

December 2013: Ranked at the Top of Facebook Publisher Rankings

BuzzFeed ranked at the top of NewsWhip's "Facebook Publisher Rankings" from December 2013.

2013: Mark Schoofs Hired

In 2013, Pulitzer Prize winner Mark Schoofs of ProPublica was hired as head of investigative reporting at BuzzFeed.

April 2014: Huffington Post entered the top position

BuzzFeed consistently ranked at the top of NewsWhip's "Facebook Publisher Rankings" until April 2014, when The Huffington Post entered the position.

July 2014: BuzzFeed writer Benny Johnson accused of plagiarism

In July 2014, BuzzFeed writer Benny Johnson was accused of multiple instances of plagiarism, leading to his eventual firing after 41 instances were found and corrected.

August 2014: $50 Million Raised from Andreessen Horowitz

In August 2014, BuzzFeed raised $50 million from Andreessen Horowitz, more than doubling previous rounds of funding, with the site reportedly valued at around $850 million.

August 2014: BuzzFeed Motion Pictures Announced

In August 2014, the company announced a new division, BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, which may produce feature-length films.

October 2014: Acquisition of Torando Labs

In October 2014, BuzzFeed announced its next acquisition, Torando Labs, which would become BuzzFeed's first data-engineering team.

October 2014: BuzzFeed Viewed as Unreliable Source

In October 2014, a Pew Research Center survey found that in the United States, BuzzFeed was viewed as an unreliable source by the majority of people, regardless of political affiliation.

December 2014: General Atlantic Acquired Secondary Stock

In December 2014, growth equity firm General Atlantic acquired $50 million in secondary stock of BuzzFeed.

2014: Deleted Early Posts

In 2014, BuzzFeed deleted over 4000 early posts, as they appeared increasingly "stupider".

2014: BuzzFeed Receives Majority of Traffic from Social Media

In 2014, BuzzFeed received 75% of its views from links on social media outlets such as Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook, highlighting the platform's strong reliance on social media for content distribution.

2014: BuzzFeed Viewed as Unreliable Source

In 2014, a Pew Research Center survey revealed that a majority of respondents in the United States considered BuzzFeed to be an unreliable source, regardless of age or political affiliation.

February 2015: Debate over the color of an item of clothing

In February 2015, a post resulting in a debate over the color of an item of clothing from BuzzFeed's Tumblr editor Cates Holderness garnered more than 28 million views in one day, setting a record for most concurrent visitors to a BuzzFeed post, which reached 673,000 at its peak.

April 2015: BuzzFeed deletes posts critical of advertisers

In April 2015, BuzzFeed drew scrutiny after Gawker observed the publication had deleted two posts that criticized advertisers such as Dove soap (manufactured by Unilever) and Hasbro. Ben Smith apologized and reinstated the posts, but one of the authors resigned.

June 2015: BuzzFeed changes social media avatar to rainbow colors

In June 2015, BuzzFeed, along with other websites like the Huffington Post and Mashable, temporarily changed the theme of their social media avatars to rainbow colors to celebrate same-sex marriage being ruled constitutional in the United States.

August 2015: NBCUniversal Invests $200 Million in BuzzFeed

In August 2015, NBCUniversal made a $200 million equity investment in BuzzFeed to hire more journalists and open outposts in various countries, including India, Germany, Mexico, and Japan.

2015: Podcast Team Started

BuzzFeed started an in-house podcasting team in 2015, through which the podcasts Another Round and Internet Explorer were developed and launched.

February 2016: Scaachi Koul's controversial tweets

In February 2016, Scaachi Koul, a Senior Writer for BuzzFeed Canada, posted a tweet requesting pitches and stating BuzzFeed was looking for "mostly non-white non-men". This tweet and subsequent comments led to accusations of racism and sexism, resulting in a barrage of hate comments and threats of violence against Koul.

April 8, 2016: BuzzFeed Interns Livestream Watermelon Explosion

On April 8, 2016, two BuzzFeed interns created a live stream on Facebook, during which rubber bands were wrapped one by one around a watermelon until the pressure caused it to explode.

June 2016: BuzzFeed coverage of Barack Obama and cancellation of advertising agreement with the Republican National Committee

In June 2016, a report found that BuzzFeed's coverage of Barack Obama was overwhelmingly positive. During the same month, BuzzFeed cancelled an advertising agreement with the Republican National Committee due to what BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti called "offensive remarks" made by Donald Trump.

August 2016: Alleged Cohen meeting in Prague

In August 2016, the Steele dossier claimed Trump's attorney Michael Cohen had met with Russian officials in Prague, Czech Republic, a claim that Cohen has vehemently denied.

2016: BuzzFeed Had 20 Investigative Journalists

By 2016, BuzzFeed had 20 investigative journalists.

2016: News and Entertainment Content Separated

In 2016, BuzzFeed formally separated its news and entertainment content into BuzzFeed News and the newly formed BuzzFeed Entertainment Group, which included BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, expanding internationally with correspondents and foreign editions.

2016: Tasty sponsors Worth It

In 2016, BuzzFeed's Tasty began sponsoring the show Worth It, starring Steven Lim, Andrew Ilnyckyj, and Adam Bianchi. The show involves the trio visiting three different food places with drastically different price points in one food category.

2016: NBCUniversal Invests Additional $200 Million

In 2016, NBCUniversal invested an additional $200 million in BuzzFeed after collaborating on projects like the Rio Olympics, planning to jointly market to advertisers.

2016: Claims surfaced of BuzzFeedVideo stealing ideas and content

In 2016, claims surfaced of the YouTube channel BuzzFeedVideo stealing ideas and content from other creators, raising concerns about originality and intellectual property.

2016: BuzzFeed broke UK advertising rules

In 2016, the Advertising Standards Authority of the United Kingdom ruled that BuzzFeed violated UK advertising regulations. This was because BuzzFeed failed to clearly indicate that an article promoting Dylon, titled "14 Laundry Fails We've All Experienced", was a paid advertorial. Despite BuzzFeed's defense that homepage and search result links labeled the article as "sponsored content", the ASA found that this labeling was insufficient, as individuals might directly link to the story without seeing the sponsored content label.

2016: BuzzFeed among the least trusted sources by millennials

In a subsequent Pew report based on 2014 surveys, BuzzFeed was among the least trusted sources by millennials. A 2016 study by the Columbia Journalism Review found readers less likely to trust a story that appeared to originate on BuzzFeed.

January 2017: BuzzFeed publishes the Steele dossier

In January 2017, BuzzFeed faced widespread criticism for publishing the Steele dossier, a set of unverified memos. The move sparked controversy and led to criticism from journalists, media officials, and then-President elect Donald Trump.

January 2017: User-generated content accumulates 100 million views

In January 2017, BuzzFeed's user-generated community content accumulated 100 million views, marking a significant milestone for the platform's community contributions.

2017: Layoffs Announced

After laying off 100 employees in 2017, BuzzFeed faced additional staffing adjustments in subsequent years.

2017: BuzzFeed launches Animation Lab

Around 2017, BuzzFeed launched Animation Lab with a focus on short-form animation content that is posted on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and later YouTube and Twitter.

2017: BuzzFeed Employed Around 1,700 Employees

By the end of 2017, BuzzFeed employed around 1,700 employees worldwide, although plans for layoffs were announced in November.

2017: BuzzFeed wins Webby Awards

In 2017, BuzzFeed won Webby Awards for Best News App and Best Interview/Talk Show (for Another Round). Also in 2017, president Greg Coleman was named Publishing Executive of the Year by Digiday.

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2017: BuzzFeed voted the second least trustworthy source

In a 2017 survey among US readers, BuzzFeed was voted the second least trustworthy source among American readers, with Occupy Democrats being lower-ranked.

June 2018: Layoffs Announced in France

In June 2018, BuzzFeed announced plans to lay off approximately 100 employees in France as part of a broader reduction in workforce.

June 2018: The Try Guys Leave BuzzFeed

In June 2018, Eugene Lee Yang, Zach Kornfeld, Keith Habersberger, and Ned Fulmer (formerly known as The Try Guys) left BuzzFeed and created their own independent channel titled "The Try Guys".

September 2018: Podcast Department Shut Down

In September 2018, BuzzFeed shut down its podcast department and laid off the staff due to a lack of desired ad revenue, cancelling most of its podcasts, including See Something, Say Something.

2018: Revenue Increased by 15%

In 2018, BuzzFeed experienced a revenue increase of 15% from 2017, despite later layoffs in 2019.

2018: Night In/Night Out canceled

In 2018, after Ned and Ariel Fulmer left BuzzFeed with the Try Guys, the series Night In/Night Out was subsequently canceled.

2018: BuzzFeed news was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize

In 2018, staff of BuzzFeed news was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in their international reporting category for their 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".

January 2019: BuzzFeed Announces Workforce Cut

In January 2019, BuzzFeed announced that it would cut its workforce by 15%.

January 2019: Unpaid quiz contributors revealed

In January 2019, Matthew Perpetua, BuzzFeed's director of quizzes, published a blog post after being laid off, revealing that many of the site's most popular quizzes were created by unpaid contributors, who received limited compensation for their contributions.

January 2019: Further Staff Layoffs and Podcast Cancellation

In late January 2019, BuzzFeed fired 200 staff across the company and cancelled the remaining podcast, Thirst Aid Kit.

January 18, 2019: Mueller's office disputes a BuzzFeed report

On January 18, 2019, Robert Mueller's office disputed a BuzzFeed report stating that Trump instructed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress. A spokesman for Mueller's office characterized the BuzzFeed report as "not accurate".

January 23, 2019: BuzzFeed Announces Workforce Reduction

On January 23, 2019, BuzzFeed announced a 15% reduction in workforce affecting international, web content, and news divisions, resulting in approximately 200 employee layoffs.

February 2019: BuzzFeed News votes to unionize

In February 2019, following major layoffs, BuzzFeed News voted to unionize. A dispute then arose between BuzzFeed's upper executives and the union, initiating a period of conflict.

July 2019: BuzzFeed Recognizes Employee Union

In July 2019, BuzzFeed announced that it would voluntarily recognize an employee union.

December 2019: Tasty reaches 100 million Facebook followers

In December 2019, BuzzFeed's video series on comfort food, Tasty, reached 100 million followers on Facebook. The channel also included five spinoff segments.

2019: BuzzFeed Laid Off 200 Employees

In 2019, BuzzFeed laid off 200 employees despite a revenue increase, and Facebook began funding two BuzzFeed News shows for Watch.

2019: Bergara and Madej start Watcher Entertainment

In 2019, Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej started their own digital production company, Watcher Entertainment, with Worth It's Steven Lim. However, the two continued collaborating with BuzzFeed to produce BuzzFeed Unsolved.

2019: Steven Lim leaves BuzzFeed

In 2019, Steven Lim left BuzzFeed to start his own production company Watcher, marking a change in personnel for the Worth It series.

March 25, 2020: Salary Cuts Announced Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

On March 25, 2020, BuzzFeed announced salary cuts on a sliding scale due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Peretti forgoing his salary.

May 13, 2020: Divisions Shut Down in UK and Australia

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 fired after it was revealed 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, making Verizon Media a minority shareholder in BuzzFeed.

2020: Deal Signed with Universal Television

In 2020, BuzzFeed signed a deal with Universal Television to produce content based on its stories.

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2020: Tasty streams Saturday Night Seder

In 2020, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, BuzzFeed's "Tasty" streamed the Saturday Night Seder, an online Passover Seder that featured many celebrities and benefited the CDC Foundation.

June 2021: Plans to Go Public and Acquire Complex Networks

In June 2021, BuzzFeed announced its plans to go public via a SPAC and acquire Complex Networks.

June 24, 2021: BuzzFeed to go Public and Acquire Complex Networks

According to a news from June 24, 2021 on Variety, BuzzFeed, valued at $1.5 billion through a SPAC deal, is to go public and acquire Complex Networks for $300 million.

September 1, 2021: BuzzFeed Video's YouTube Channel Statistics

As of September 1, 2021, BuzzFeed Video's YouTube channel had garnered more than 17.4 billion views and more than 20.3 million subscribers.

November 2021: BuzzFeed Unsolved ends collaboration with BuzzFeed

In November 2021, Bergara and Madej ended their collaboration with BuzzFeed to produce BuzzFeed Unsolved.

December 2021: Public Listing

After its December 2021 public listing, BuzzFeed experienced a difficult period for media companies.

2021: Animation Lab finds success

As of 2021, BuzzFeed Animation Lab found success through Weird Helga, The Good Advice Cupcake, The Land of Boggs, and Chikn Nuggit, which had a combined total of over 17 million followers.

2021: BuzzFeed wins a Pulitzer Prize

BuzzFeed won a Pulitzer Prize in 2021 in the international reporting category for an investigative series about the Xinjiang internment camps.

2021: BuzzFeed News wins awards

By 2021, after years of investment in investigative journalism, BuzzFeed News had won the National Magazine Award, the George Polk Award, and the Pulitzer Prize, and was nominated for the Michael Kelly Award.

2021: Raised $16.2M in Post IPO round

In 2021, BuzzFeed raised $16.2M in its latest funding round, which was a Post IPO round held on Dec 03, 2021.

March 2022: BuzzFeed News Editors Resign Amid Job Cuts

In March 2022, three top BuzzFeed News editors announced their resignation, and the newsroom faced voluntary layoffs or job cuts after investors encouraged Peretti to shut down BuzzFeed News.

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.

April 20, 2023: BuzzFeed News to be Shuttered

On April 20, 2023, Jonah Peretti announced that BuzzFeed would be shutting down BuzzFeed News and concentrating its news efforts on HuffPost, resulting in approximately 180 employee layoffs.

May 2023: Nasdaq Delisting Notice

In May 2023, after initially listing on Nasdaq at $10 a share, BuzzFeed's share price declined, leading to a delisting notice from Nasdaq requiring them to raise the share price above $1 within 180 days.

November 2023: Further Extension from Nasdaq

In November 2023, after the initial deadline passed with the stock price still below $1, BuzzFeed was given a further 180 days by Nasdaq to raise its share price.

January 2024: Stock Price Declines

By January 2024, BuzzFeed's stock price had declined 98% since its initial listing, with the company's value around $37 million and burdened with debt.

January 2024: Animation Lab team laid off

In January 2024, many of the Animation Lab team were laid off (including Loryn Brantz), leading to the cancellations of Weird Helga and The Good Advice Cupcake.

February 2024: Sale of Complex to NTWRK

In February 2024, BuzzFeed announced the sale of Complex to NTWRK, a livestream shopping platform, while also considering the sale of Tasty.

May 2024: Reverse Stock Split Implemented

In May 2024, BuzzFeed implemented a 4:1 reverse stock split, bringing them above the $1 a share threshold to comply with Nasdaq requirements.

May 2024: Activist Investor Acquires Stake in BuzzFeed

In May 2024, activist investor Vivek Ramaswamy acquired a 7.7% stake in BuzzFeed, becoming the fourth-largest shareholder, and later increased it to 8.37%, aiming to shift the company's political leanings.