G/O Media has sold tech news website Gizmodo to Keleops Media, a European digital media company.
In a company-wide email obtained and reviewed by The Daily Beast, G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller wrote: “A short time ago we were approached by European based Keleops Media expressing interest in purchasing Gizmodo to add to their growing tech media holdings. After serious consideration, G/O Media’s board of directors have decided to accept their offer for a variety of reasons which include Keleops’ agreement to keep Gizmodo’s entire staff intact and a sale valuation that represents a substantial premium from our original purchase price for the site.”
Claiming that the increased valuation of the site was a “strong testament to the work of not only our editorial teams but also the core other areas of our operations,” Spanfeller praised the company’s sales and marketing teams as well as the development group for the “wonderful work” they’ve done to improve the site’s features and marketing.
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“Under the terms of the transaction the Gizmodo staff will continue to work in our offices here in New York City at least for the near term,” the CEO continued. “For the past two decades Gizmodo has been a leader in covering technology and its related vertical subjects with a unique approach and voice that has established itself as a vital player in tech journalism. The site’s new owners are very excited to be getting a great brand with a talented group of journalists.”
The sale of Gizmodo is just the latest brand dumped by G/O Media, which in recent months has parceled off the former Gawker Media publications it acquired from Univision back in 2019. Gawker was infamously forced into bankruptcy in 2016 after losing a $140 million lawsuit for publishing a sex tape featuring pro-wrestling icon Hulk Hogan.
After briefly shutting down the feminist blog Jezebel late last year, the media holding company then sold the site to Atlanta-based music magazine Paste, along with the defunct political news site Splinter, which was revived by its new owners.
Deadspin, the long-running sports outlet that was once the flagship of the old Gawker brand, was acquired this past March by European firm Lineup Publishing, which decided to terminate the existing staff. While Spanfeller told G/O staffers he was “not actively shopping Deadspin,” he added that the “rationale behind the decision to sell included a variety of important factors that include the buyer’s editorial plans.”
The G/O fire sale continued weeks later when the beleaguered media company got rid of entertainment site The A.V. Club and food blog Takout, selling the publications to two separate companies. The Daily Beast also learned at the time that Spanfeller was actively shopping satirical outlet The Onion, which would eventually be sold in late April to a buyout group led by former NBC News reporter Ben Collins and Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson.
With the sale of Gizmodo, G/O Media no longer owns the brands that made up the G and O of its name. The company's dwindling portfolio now just consists of business news site Quartz, African-American culture outlet The Root, gaming site Kotaku, gearhead publication Jalopnik, and commerce site The Inventory.
Spanfeller, who has consistently received backlash from current and ex-employees over his management of the company, boasted about the health of G/O’s remaining sites in Tuesday’s memo.
“As we near the end of the first half of the year I thought I would give a brief update on how the company is doing overall. Over the past few months we have seen some terrific sales wins on both the direct and programmatic advertising fronts,” he wrote. “Quartz has seen both triple digit traffic gains and double digit ad sales increases so far in 2024. We are also starting to see some encouraging signs from the advertising community that the second half of the year will be much better than last year’s comparable period.”
He concluded by saying he is “confident that these moves will better position G/O Media for success as the year progresses.”
In a press release, Keleops CEO and Founder Jean-Guillaume Kleis said “acquiring Gizmodo represents a strategic move for Keleops as we continue to strengthen our presence and leadership in the tech media industry.”
Calling Gizmodo “an iconic technology news brand with strong recognition worldwide,” Kleis added that he is “incredibly excited about Gizmodo’s future” and believes that the “combination of Keleops’ unique digital know-how and Gizmodo’s rich content and deep editorial expertise will greatly benefit both our audiences and our partners.”
