Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
The Daily Beast has been courting potential buyers for more than a year. On Monday, media mogul Barry Diller, the chairman of Beast parent company IAC, announced in an internal memo to staff that he sold a minority stake in the digital news site to two media industry veterans.
Ben Sherwood, the former president of Disney-ABC Television Group and ABC News, and Joanna Coles, the former chief content officer of Hearst Magazines, acquired a minority stake in the company. Sherwood will serve as publisher and CEO of the Beast, while Coles will serve as chief creative and content officer.
“I’m so glad to be able to tell you that after what has been a destabilizing period for the Beast, I now believe its future is secured,” Diller wrote in an email to all Beast employees shortly before 9 a.m. Monday morning that was obtained by Mediaite. “Please join me in welcoming Ben Sherwood and Joanna Coles as the managing partners of our publication.”
An all hands meeting of Beast staff is scheduled for Monday afternoon, sources told Mediaite.
Puck’s Dylan Byers broke news of the deal over the weekend, reporting that Sherwood and Coles would acquire a 49% equity stake while Diller would retain 51% of the company. The New York Times published a story on Monday confirming the deal with an official announcement from Diller, Sherwood and Coles.
Sherwood and Coles were given salaries in the deal, according to the Times. Diller told the paper he had lost hope of keeping the Beast until he met with the pair. “When Ben and Joanna made this presentation, I’d really gotten to the point where I was kind of skeptical that anything would work out, other than selling it. But I was so impressed with their concept, their energy and their interest,” he said.
“The first and most important piece is to get in there, to assess, to observe and then to begin to influence how we make great stuff and how we make people feel that The Daily Beast is a guilty necessity every single day,” Sherwood told the Times.
He also told the paper he planned on revitalizing the outlet through revenue streams that have proved profitable for a few outlets in a tough climate for digital media: subscriptions, advertising, and events.
“Timing is everything, and the current media hellstorm feels like the ideal moment to jump back into journalism,” Sherwood said in a statement. “Yes, everything feels upside down right now with busted business models and transformative technology. With so much disruption—or maybe because of it—we believe this is the ideal entrepreneurial opportunity to deliver on The Beast’s insurgent promise. We are excited to work with the dynamic team at The Beast, cultivate and recruit great talent, and help unleash its populist potential.”
Disclosure: Diana Falzone worked as a contributing editor and reporter for The Daily Beast from 2020-2023.
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