Former Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has urged BuzzFeed to hire Tucker Carlson after taking an activist stake in the online publisher.
In a letter to BuzzFeed’s board, Mr Ramaswamy called on the company to employ voices from “across the political and cultural spectrum” as he lobbied for more investment in video and a shift to the Right.
Alongside Mr Carlson, who was fired as a Fox News host last year, the activist also suggested conservative commentator Candace Owens and comedian Bill Maher.
He wrote: “No talent should be off-limits to platform, hire, or acqui-hire.”
Mr Ramaswamy, a vocal critic of “woke” politics, called on BuzzFeed to admit it had “repeatedly lied on issues of national importance” and apologise to its readers.
He pointed to a string of stories, including BuzzFeed’s publication of the Christopher Steele dossier, which contained unsubstantiated claims about Donald Trump’s links to Russia, and its reporting on the actor Kevin Spacey, which he said had contributed to “public distrust of the media”.
Mr Ramaswamy added: “Against this backdrop, you have a historic opportunity to redefine BuzzFeed and set yourself apart from every other major media organisation.”
The biotech entrepreneur, who ended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in January and announced his support for Mr Trump, also called for “large-scale” job cuts at BuzzFeed to return the company to startup size.
He said he had identified three directors to join the publisher’s board and urged existing board members to meet with them and confirm their appointment by July 15.
Mr Ramaswamy added that he had increased his stake to 8.4pc, making him the second-largest Class A shareholder, and intended to buy more shares.
Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s co-founder and chief executive, owns the majority of the Class B supervoting shares.
In an email responding to Mr Ramaswamy, Mr Peretti said: “Based on your letter, you have some fundamental misunderstandings about the drivers of our business, the values of our audience, and the mission of the company.
“I’m very skeptical it makes business sense to turn BuzzFeed into a creator platform for inflammatory political pundits. And we’re definitely not going to issue an apology for our Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism.
“That said, I welcome outside perspectives from shareholders and am open to hearing more from you. I’d also love the opportunity to better explain the strategy that we’ve outlined on our recent earnings calls, and why we’re so confident it will create the most value.”
BuzzFeed’s market value surged last week after Mr Ramaswamy revealed his position in the company. Comcast, the US media giant behind Sky, sold around $10m (£8m) worth of shares last week as it cashed in on the rally.
Mr Ramaswamy, who could be in line for a cabinet position if Mr Trump wins the election, made his fortune through pharmaceutical group Roivant Sciences, which he founded in 2014.
In 2022 he co-founded Strive Asset Management, an anti-activism fund that has railed against “woke” politics in boardrooms and criticised companies for adopting strategies focused on environmental, social and governance, or ESG, principles.
Mr Ramaswamy also wrote Woke, Inc, a New York Times bestselling book outlining his belief that the social justice movement was a “scam”.
BuzzFeed was launched in 2006 amid a wave of new Left-leaning digital outlets. But the company suffered a collapse in its share price following a botched stock market float in 2021 and has struggled for direction amid a decline in referrals from social media sites, a slump in online advertising and growing fears that artificial intelligence (AI) could replace writers.
BuzzFeed shut down its Pulitzer Prize-winning news division last year amid broader job cuts and is now known for its online quizzes and pop culture “listicles”.
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