IBT Media

Last updated

IBT Media
Logo ibtmedia.png
Type of site
 Publication
OwnerEtienne Uzac,
URL corp.ibt.com
CommercialYes
Launched2006;18 years ago (2006) (as IBT Media)
Current statusActive

IBT Media is an American global digital news organization with over 90 million monthly readers, owned by followers of religious leader David Jang. [1] [2] It publishes the International Business Times and Medical Daily, among others. IBT Media is headquartered in New York City, in the Hanover Square neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. [3] As of 2014, the company posted revenue of about $21 million and generated a profit of about $500,000. [1]

Contents

Corporate structure and revenue

IBT Media is a privately held company, owned by Etienne Uzac, a convicted felon. [4] The company has not received outside funding, [5] and has grown with a focus on being an "efficient company", concentrating on the "revenue side as well as on the expenses". [6] [7]

It started in 2006, with personal savings[ from whom? ], and SBA bank loan[ to whom? ], and no input, financial or advisory, from VCs.[ clarification needed ] [5] It has been profitable since 2010. [8] [5] [6] [7] Since then it has acquired Newsweek . [9] [8]

The company derives its profits primarily from advertising and has been profitable since 2010. [7]

On September 14, 2018, after completing the strategic structural changes initially announced in March, IBT Media spun off into two separate companies—Newsweek and IBT Media.

Partnerships

IBT Media says it has an ongoing "working relationship" with Olivet University which includes the school providing design assistance and computer resources, and IBT Media providing internships for students. It characterizes it as similar to the relationships Silicon Valley companies have with local universities. [9] However, publication Christianity Today alleges that IBT Media has a close relationship both with Olivet and with its founder, controversial [9] [10] evangelical pastor David J. Jang. It claims that Jang is an investor in and has exercised control over IBT Media, that Davis was formerly director of journalism at Olivet, and that Uzac was its treasurer, at least at one time. [9] [11] [12] Executives characterize the relationship as between the institutions and not the founders, and that it was purely operational. [7] [9]

IBT Media is part of Economist's "Ideas Channel", an ad-network based on mindset rather than demographics, set up in part to reach "an intellectual and often influential audience interested in business, politics and science". [13] The company's Bizu video platform partners with IDG Communications and France 24. for content, and Digitas and PJA Advertising and others for monetization of the platform. [14] [15]

The company's brands publish to a number of 3rd party platforms, including Flipboard, Zite, and The Washington Post 's Social Reader. [16]

Controversies

In January 2018 Manhattan District Attorney staff raided the company's offices, taking away eighteen computer servers, in what Newsweek reported was part of an investigation into company finances. On 1 February 2018 co-owner and chairman, Etienne Uzac, and his wife Marion Kim who acted as finance director, resigned. [17] [18] Uzac was convicted, pleading guilty to avoid jail time. [19]

On February 20, 2018, Newsweek reported on the DA's investigation into its parent company, and its relationship with Olivet University. [18] [20]

Following the publication of the story, several Newsweek staff were fired and some editors threatened to resign stating that management had tried to interfere in the story's publication (veteran IBT journalist Matthew Cooper did resign). [21] [22] On October 10, 2018, it was reported by the Wall Street Journal that IBT Media was charged with defrauding lenders. [23]

On June 30, 2022, the New York State Education Department officially ended Olivet's authorization to operate in the state citing that their failings "are part of a larger pattern of poor administration and addressing such problems only after being caught in a criminal conspiracy." [24] [25]

On July 6, 2022, a lawsuit was filed in New York state by Newsweek’s current owner, NW Media Holdings Corp., seeking to enforce IBT’s “contractual obligation to indemnify NW Media Holdings for the multi-million-dollar losses incurred as a result of IBT’s former mismanagement of Newsweek.” [26] The lawsuit also the lawsuit names several defendants in addition to IBT Media, a company that owned Newsweek until 2018, including religious leader David Jang and Etienne Uzac, a former CEO and chairman of Newsweek. [27] Additional lawsuits have been filed by Newsweek co-owners Johnathan Davis and Dev Pragad against each other, alleging various grievances including stolen trade secrets, records falsification and reputational damage. [28]

Innovations

IBT Media had run on a proprietary content management system that it has built over several years, though based on examination of the HTML source, it currently runs Drupal. The company started to tie-in real-time analytics into the newsroom as early as 2010, and based on those results, optimize follow-up content, positioning, and editorial calendars to serve readers. Social feedback is also built into the newsroom. [29]

The company has also created platforms for content. Bizu, a video platform for business professionals hosts content and also offers incremental revenue streams to content providers. [14]

Assets

Chronology

Related Research Articles

Dotdash Meredith is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, lifestyle, travel, and education. It operates brands including Verywell, Investopedia, People, The Balance, Byrdie, MyDomaine, Brides, The Spruce, Simply Recipes, Serious Eats, Liquor.com, Lifewire, TripSavvy, TreeHugger, and ThoughtCo. In August 2012, About.com became a property of IAC, owner of Ask.com and numerous other online brands, and its revenue is generated by advertising. In addition to its Manhattan headquarters, Dotdash Meredith maintains offices elsewhere in the New York metropolitan area, as well as in Des Moines, Iowa, and Birmingham, Alabama.

<i>Newsweek</i> Weekly news magazine based in New York City

Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, Newsweek was widely distributed during the 20th century and had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev Pragad, the president and chief executive officer (CEO), and Johnathan Davis who sits on the board; they each own 50% of the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Orchard (company)</span> American music and entertainment company

The Orchard Enterprises NY, Inc., doing business as The Orchard, is an American music and entertainment company, specializing in media distribution. It is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment, based in New York City. In 2019, the company sold off its film and television division, which was renamed 1091 Media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discovery, Inc.</span> American factual media company (1985–2022)

Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1982, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Science Channel, and TLC. In 2018, the company acquired Scripps Networks Interactive, adding networks such as Food Network, HGTV, and Travel Channel to its portfolio. Since the purchase, Discovery described itself as serving members of "passionate" audiences, and also placed a focus on streaming services built around its properties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IAC Inc.</span> American media and internet company

IAC Inc. is an American holding company that owns brands across 100 countries, mostly in media and Internet. The company originated in 1996 as HSN Inc. as the holding company of Home Shopping Network and USA Network before changing its name to USA Networks, Inc. in 1999 and its television assets were sold to Vivendi in 2002. Those are now owned today by NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast.

Liberty Global Ltd. is a British-Dutch-American multinational telecommunications company domiciled in Bermuda, with headquarters in London, Amsterdam and Denver. Its respective legal names are Liberty Global Holdings Limited (UK), Liberty Global B.V. (Netherlands) and Liberty Global, Inc., with the first of these being publicly traded. It was formed in 2005 by the merger of the international arm of Liberty Media and UnitedGlobalCom (UGC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harlem Valley State Hospital</span> Hospital in New York, United States

Harlem Valley State Hospital, south of the hamlet of Wingdale in the town of Dover, was a New York State psychiatric hospital that operated from 1924 to 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olivet University</span> Private Christian institution of biblical higher education in Anza, California, U.S.

Olivet University is a private Christian university in Anza, California. It is accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) to award certificates, bachelor's, master's, D. Min., and Ph.D. degrees.

Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) was an American mass media company, which was formed on July 1, 2008, and acquired by and merged into Discovery Communications on March 6, 2018. It was formed in 2008, through the spin-off of the E. W. Scripps Company's cable television networks and online assets. Discovery Communications completed its acquisition of SNI after receiving approval from the United States Department of Justice and European Commission on March 6, 2018. It was the owner of several major factual television cable channels, including Food Network, HGTV and Travel Channel, and operated or held stakes in localized international versions of these brands. SNI also owned Polish broadcaster TVN and half of the British channel group UKTV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Pittman (media executive)</span> American businessman

Robert Warren Pittman is an American businessman. Pittman was the CEO of MTV Networks and the cofounder and programmer who led the team that created MTV, and is the cofounder of iHeartMedia and Casa Dragones Tequila. Pittman joined iHeartMedia's predecessor company Clear Channel in November 2010 as an investor and the company's Chairman of Media and Entertainment Platforms, was named CEO in 2011 and chairman in 2013. Pittman led Clear Channel's transformation into iHeartMedia, Inc. in September 2014 to reflect its new multiplatform business and expanded mission. Pittman has also been the former chairman and CEO of Clear Channel Outdoor, CEO of AOL Networks, Six Flags Theme Parks, Quantum Media, Century 21 Real Estate and Time Warner Enterprises, and COO of America Online, Inc. and AOL Time Warner.

Penske Media Corporation is an American mass media, publishing, and information services company based in Los Angeles and New York City. It publishes more than 20 digital and print brands, including Variety, Rolling Stone, Women's Wear Daily, Deadline Hollywood, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Boy Genius Report, Robb Report, Artforum, ARTNews, and others. PMC's Chairman and CEO since founding is Jay Penske.

Edgecast Networks, Inc. was a subsidiary of Yahoo! Inc. and provider of content delivery network (CDN) and video streaming services. Founded in 2006, it was notable for being a self-provisioning CDN technology used by the telecommunication and hosting industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Jang</span> South Korean theologian (born 1949)

David Jang is a South Korean professor, Christian theologian, and pastor. He has founded several Christian organizations, including Olivet University in San Francisco, Christian Today headquartered in Korea, Christian Daily Korea, and Christianity Daily in Los Angeles, CA. He served as a member of the North American Council of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) from 2007 to 2018, the former president of World Olivet Assembly, the founder and first international president of Olivet University, and current president of the Holy Bible Society. Jang was also the 88th President of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqueline Hernández</span> American multimedia businesswoman

Jacqueline Hernández is a Hispanic-American multimedia businesswoman specializing in multicultural and youth marketing. Hernandez is the CEO and founder of New Majority Ready, a marketing and content development firm. She is the former CMO of NBCUniversal Hispanic Enterprise and COO of Telemundo Enterprises and mun2. She currently serves as the Interim CEO of MediaCo and is on the board of directors of Victoria's Secret and MediaCo Holding. Before that, Hernández worked across multiple brands and platforms, including as publisher of People en Español, Teen People, and in various leadership roles at Time, Fortune, CNN International, and Combate Americas.

NewsBeast was an American media company, and owner of Newsweek and The Daily Beast. It was established in 2010 as a merger between the two media outlets. The company was owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp and the estate of Sidney Harman, with Stephen Colvin of The Daily Beast as CEO. In August 2013, IBT Media acquired Newsweek, leaving The Daily Beast under the management of The Newsweek Daily Beast Company, which today operates as a subsidiary of IAC.

The Verge is an American technology news website headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts.

The International Business Times is an American online newspaper that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called IBTimes or IBT, offers news, opinion and editorial commentary on business and commerce. IBT is one of the world's largest online news sources, receiving forty million unique visitors each month. Its 2013 revenues were around $21 million. As of January 2022, IBTimes editions include Australia, India, International, Singapore, U.K. and U.S.

Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company founded in Washington, D.C. with operational headquarters in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by CEO Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass SB Nation and The Verge. Bankoff had been the CEO for SB Nation since 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vice Media</span> American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company

Vice Media Group LLC is a Canadian-American digital media and broadcasting company. As of April 2024, Vice Media encompasses four main business areas: Vice Studios Group ; Vice TV ; Virtue ; and Vice Digital. It was cited as the largest independent youth media company in the world, with 35 offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dev Pragad</span> President and CEO of Newsweek (born 1984)

Dev Pragad is the British-American president and CEO of Newsweek. He is also co-owner of Newsweek acquiring a half-interest in 2018. Under his tenure, Newsweek returned to profitability and reaches 100 million readers a month.

References

  1. 1 2 Kaufman, Leslie. "Tiny Digital Publisher to Put Newsweek Back in Print". NYTimes. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Newsweek sues former owners, controversial pastor David Jang, seeking millions". Religion News Service. July 8, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Stoeffel, Kat (July 6, 2011). "Braving Bad Juju, International Business Times Moves Into Newsweek's Old Newsroom". The New York Observer. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  4. 1 2 Tracy, Marc (February 14, 2020). "A Former Owner of Newsweek Pleads Guilty in a Fraud Scheme". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 "The mysterious company that just bought Newsweek". Fortune. Archived from the original on August 10, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  6. 1 2 Sebastian, Michael. "What IBTimes wants with Newsweek". adage. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Bercovici, Jeff (August 5, 2013). "Meet the mysterious duo who just bought Newsweek". Forbes. New York. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  8. 1 2 Rondon, Michael. "Meet IBT Media: The Future of Newsweek". Folio. Archived from the original on August 9, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Lauria, Peter (August 3, 2013). "Newsweek's New Owners Say They Bought "A Lot Of Cachet"". BuzzFeed . Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  10. ↑ Smietana, Bob (July 16, 2012). "LifeWay land deal with Calif. school faces scrutiny". USA Today . Archived from the original on March 8, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  11. ↑ McCarthy, Tom (August 5, 2013). "Newsweek is dead. Long live Newsweek?". The Guardian . London. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  12. ↑ Bercovici, Jeff (August 5, 2013). "Meet The Mysterious Duo Who Just Bought Newsweek". Forbes . New York. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  13. ↑ Siegel, Fern. "Economist Ideas Channel Targets Elite". MediaPost. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  14. 1 2 Knight, Kristina (January 14, 2013). "New platform to focus on business related media". BizReport. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  15. 1 2 "Cynopsis Digital". Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  16. ↑ Owen, Laura Hazard (July 23, 2012). "IBT Media Launches 'The Latin Times' Targeting U.S. Hispanics". PaidContent. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  17. ↑ Gold, Hadas (February 1, 2018). "Chair of embattled Newsweek Media Group resigns". CNN Money. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  18. 1 2 Katz, Celeste; Keefe, Josh; Saul, Josh (February 20, 2018). "Why Is the Manhattan DA Looking at Newsweek's Ties to a Christian University?". Newsweek. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  19. ↑ Tracy, Marc (February 14, 2020). "A Former Owner of Newsweek Pleads Guilty in a Fraud Scheme". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  20. ↑ IBT Staff Report (February 21, 2018). "Newsweek Media Group Will Work More Closely With Christian University, Founder Says". International Business Times.
  21. ↑ Rushe, Dominic (February 21, 2018). "Newsweek plunged into chaos by its own reporters' exposé". The Guardian. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  22. ↑ Schmidt, Samantha (February 21, 2018). "Newsweek publishes exposé about itself after controversial staff firings". Washington Post. Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  23. ↑ Alpert, Lukas I.; O'Brien, Rebecca Davis (October 10, 2018). "Newsweek's Parent Company Charged With Defrauding Lenders". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  24. ↑ Jamali, Naveed (July 2, 2022). "New York Shuts Down Olivet University Amid Federal Money-Laundering Probe". Newsweek.
  25. ↑ Belz, Emily (July 6, 2022). "New York Shuts Down Embattled Olivet University Campus". Christianity Today.
  26. ↑ Smietana, Bob; Jenkins, Jack (July 7, 2022). "Newsweek sues former owners, controversial pastor David Jang, seeking millions". Religious News Service.
  27. ↑ Rouhandeh, Alex J. (July 8, 2022). "Newsweek Sues David Jang, Leader of Sect Under Federal Investigation". Newsweek.
  28. ↑ Bruell, Alexandra (July 29, 2022). "Newsweek Engulfed in Legal Drama as Co-Owners Sue Each Other". The Wall Street Journal.
  29. ↑ Moses, Lucia. "Newsweek Relaunches in Print". AdWeek. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  30. ↑ "Corporate Brands" . Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  31. ↑ "About Us". Medical Daily. IBT Media. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  32. ↑ "About Us". Latin Times. IBT Media. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  33. ↑ "About Us". iDigitalTimes. IBT Media. Archived from the original on January 6, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  34. ↑ "Corporate Timeline" . Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  35. ↑ Martinez, Laura. "IBT Media Launches 'The Latin Times' Targeting U.S. Hispanics". Portada. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  36. ↑ Haughney, Christine (August 4, 2013). "Newsweek, Sold in 2010, Changing Hands Again". The New York Times. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  37. ↑ Launder, William (August 3, 2013). "IBT Media to Buy Newsweek from IAC". The Wall Street Journal. New York. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  38. ↑ "Tiny Digital Publisher to Put Newsweek Back in Print". The New York Times. March 3, 2014.
  39. ↑ "Newsweek announces it's profitable". Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  40. ↑ "IBT Media Is Rebranding as Newsweek Media Group" . Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  41. ↑ "Newsweek Media Group Splits into Separate Companies: Newsweek, IBT Media" . Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  42. ↑ Newsweek. "Newsweek Media Group Splits Into Two Companies -- Newsweek & IBT Media". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.