BuzzFeed will lay off roughly 180 employees across BuzzFeed, HuffPost and Tasty, marking the first major restructuring since Byron Allen acquired a controlling stake in the digital media company earlier this year.
The cuts, which affect about 35% of BuzzFeed’s workforce, were also disclosed Monday in an SEC filing. In a memo to employees first obtained by THR, company leadership said the layoffs are “required to put our business on a path to profitable and sustainable growth” after warning just months ago that there was “substantial doubt” about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.
Allen became BuzzFeed’s majority owner and CEO in May after completing a $120 million deal that gave him a 52% stake in the company and shifted founder Jonah Peretti into a new role leading the company’s AI initiatives. Since taking control, Allen has outlined plans to use BuzzFeed, HuffPost and Tasty as key content engines for his broader free ad-supported streaming strategy centered around Local Now.
The layoffs come as BuzzFeed continues to battle a weak digital advertising market. The company reported a nearly 20% year-over-year decline in advertising revenue in its most recent quarter and posted a net loss of $15.1 million. BuzzFeed is scheduled to report earnings again on Aug. 4, with investors expected to look for further details on Allen’s turnaround strategy.
The post BuzzFeed to Lay Off 35% of Workforce After Byron Allen Takeover appeared first on TheWrap.
