Daily Beast CEO Struggles After Potential Sale Rumor Leaked

The Daily Beast boss on Friday tried to allay fears that the news site would be sold following reports that a deal was in the works, The Post learned.

CEO Heather Dietrick sent a message to worried employees saying “there is no deal and it’s impossible to predict what might happen,” according to an internal Slack message leaked to The Post.

Barry Diller, who runs the Daily Beast’s parent company IAC, approached consulting firm Whisper Advisors to explore a sale, but The New York Times reports the process was in its “early stages.”

“Obviously there was a lot of internal anxiety this morning about the potential sale of the Daily Beast,” a source in the Daily Beast newsroom told The Post. “There was a lot of chatter on Slack. The employees are very concerned about this and called each other.”

Dietrik tried to allay these fears in her message to the staff.

“I wanted to follow up today’s New York Times article. It is not surprising that – especially after our successes over the past few years – other media companies could show interest in The Daily Beast or that the IAC would be negotiating,” Dietrik wrote in a leaked memo.

The CEO added: “I know rumors like this can be disturbing, but I can say with confidence that there is no reason to panic.”

When The Post contacted a spokesperson for the Daily Beast, he said he “does not comment on rumors or speculation”.

A Daily Beast source touted the newsroom’s “close-knit team” and likened it to a “big pirate ship” run by editor-in-chief Tracey Connor, stating that the site’s fun, reportage-oriented culture “could change if a new owner comes in.”

Tech and media mogul Diller has owned the Daily Beast for 14 years after co-founding the site with longtime editor Tina Brown.

The scrappy digital outlet, which attracted some 15 million visitors in November, ran some big scoops, such as the news that former NFL player Herschel Walker, the Republican nominee for the Georgia Senate, was the father of children he had not publicly mentioned before.

But the site also ran into financial difficulties, turning to digital subscriptions to boost revenue. The company currently charges $4.99 per month for unlimited access to its content, while offering ad-supported crossword puzzles five times a week. The site also takes a portion of the online sales of the products it recommends in the Exploration section.

The gossip and news site is the subject of a lawsuit against a former editorial director of Gawker, who sued the company for defamation in 2020. This case is going through the courts and is expected to heat up this year. The Daily Beast stated that its article was accurate.

It is reported that Diller’s decision to sell the Daily Beast is due to the fact that the advertising market is pushing media companies. Diller, whose IAC company purchased many magazines from Meredith Corp. in 2021, digests this merger. His portfolio includes digital sites People, Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Living. Last year, the IAC said it was shutting down print publications Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, EatingWell, Health, Parents and People en Español.