Entertainment mogul Byron Allen to acquire Buzzfeed, HuffPost

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BuzzFeed, the digital media and entertainment company, is selling a controlling interest to Byron Allen, a prominent entertainment executive based in Los Angeles, for $120 million.

BuzzFeed announced late Monday that Allen Family Digital will buy 52% of the company for $3 per share, totaling 40 million shares.

Allen will pay $20 million in cash up front, with the remaining $100 million due in five years.

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Allen’s new show, ‘Comics Unleashed,’ will air on CBS right after Stephen Colbert’s show. Despite the challenges facing late-night television, Allen says his show isn’t costing CBS anything – it’s completely free to air.

With this agreement, Allen will also become the owner of HuffPost, a long-standing website that was previously part of BuzzFeed.

The deal is predicted to be finalized this month. Jonah Peretti, who founded BuzzFeed and currently serves as its CEO, will move into a new position leading BuzzFeed AI.

Allen will become chairman and chief executive.

According to Peretti, this investment and Byron’s new leadership positions will give BuzzFeed more financial flexibility and allow it to concentrate on its core operations.

The website, once a popular online destination worth $1.5 billion, attracted users for two decades with its engaging content like lists, eye-catching news stories, and fun quizzes – remember the one that told you which character from “Schitt’s Creek” you were?

BuzzFeed has struggled financially for several years. In 2021, they acquired HuffPost hoping to attract more readers and advertisers. More recently, they shut down BuzzFeed News, which was once a very popular source of online news.

BuzzFeed lost $15 million in the first quarter of this year. While the company brought in $31.6 million in revenue, that was down 12.4% from the same time last year. Advertising income dropped almost 20% to $17.1 million, but revenue from content – like articles and videos – increased by over 50%, reaching $7.5 million.

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When it debuted in 2006, BuzzFeed quickly became a social media sensation.

BuzzFeed is planning further cost reductions before Allen takes over as CEO, according to a statement from Peretti. As part of these changes, BuzzFeed Studios and Tasty will become a separate, independent company.

I’m so excited for Allen! It’s amazing to see all this happening for him right now. He’s a really funny guy, a former stand-up, and he’s about to take the reins of CBS’s late night programming later this month. It’s a big change, as he’s taking over for Stephen Colbert’s ‘The Late Show,’ which sadly CBS and Paramount Skydance have decided to end.

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The conclusion of the ‘Late Show’ is a significant setback for a type of television program that was once very popular, but has since become less important and attracted fewer advertising revenues.

Earlier this month, Allen Media Group sold almost a dozen of its television stations in various cities to Gray Media Inc. for around $170 million.

Allen continues to own 13 local TV stations across almost a dozen cities, as well as the Weather Channel’s cable channel and its online platforms like Pets.TV and Comedy.TV.

According to Allen, the company plans to grow beyond its roots at BuzzFeed and HuffPost by offering free streaming video, audio, and content created by users. Essentially, BuzzFeed is now competing with YouTube to become a leading free video platform.

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2026-05-12 03:31