Business Insider

History

Business Insider launched in February 2009 and is based in New York City. Founded by DoubleClick's former CEO Kevin P. Ryan, Dwight Merriman, and Henry Blodget, the publication is the overarching brand of Silicon Alley Insider (launched May 16, 2007) and Clusterstock (launched March 20, 2008). In addition to providing and analyzing business news, the site aggregates top news stories on various subjects from around the web. In 2011, the online newsroom employed a staff of 50, and the site reported a profit for the first time ever in the 4th quarter of 2010. In June 2012, it had 5.4 million unique visitors. It now averages around 70 million unique visitors, monthly.

Business Insider also hosts industry conferences, such as IGNITION, which explores the emerging business models of digital media. In January 2015, Business Insider launched BI Intelligence, a subscription-based research service that provides data and analysis on the mobile, payments, eCommerce, social, and digital media industries. The site publishes numerous annual editorial franchises, such as the "Digital 100: The World's Most Valuable Private Tech Companies."

Acquisition

On September 29, 2015, Axel Springer SE announced that it had acquired 88% of the stake in Business Insider, Inc. for a reported $343 million (€306 million). After the purchase, Axel Springer SE will hold a stake of approximately 97%, and Jeff Bezos' personal investment company will hold the remaining shares.

Tech Insider

In July 2015, Business Insider launched the standalone technology website Tech Insider, with a staff of 40 people working primarily from the company's existing New York headquarters, but separately from the main Business Insider newsroom.

Markets Insider

In October 2016, Business Insider launched Markets Insider, a globally-focused markets data and news service based on Yahoo Finance. Data is provided by Germany-based finance portal Finanzen.net, another Axel Springer holding.

BI Sub-Saharan Africa

In January 2017, Business Insider announced that it would be launching a new sub-saharan site in partnership with Ringier Africa Digital Publishing. Henry Blodget––co-founder, CEO, and global Editor-in-Chief of Business Insider––said of the partnership, “Ringier ... is the ideal partner to help us bring to sub-saharan Africa [our] unique voice and attitude.”

Contributors

Business Insider's CEO and Editor-In-Chief Henry Blodget is a Yale history graduate who previously worked on Wall Street until he was charged with securities fraud in 2003. Nicholas Carlson, whose past experiences include Internet.com and Gawker Media's Silicon Valley gossip blog, Valleywag, serves as Deputy Editor. And Senior Editor Jim Edwards' previous position was Managing Editor at Adweek.

Reception

In January 2009, the Clusterstock section appeared in Time's "Best 25 Financial Blogs," and the Silicon Alley Insider section was listed in PC Magazine's "Our Favorite Blogs 2009." 2009 also saw Business Insider's selection as an official Webby honoree for Best Business Blog.

In 2012, Business Insider was named to the Inc. 500. In 2013, the publication was once again nominated in the Blog-Business category at the Webby Awards. In January 2014, The New York Times reported that Business Insider's web traffic was comparable to that of The Wall Street Journal. In 2017, Digiday included imprint Insider as a candidate in two separate categories––"Best New Vertical" and "Best Use of Instagram"––at their annual Publishing Awards.

The website has, however, faced criticism for its clickbait-style headlines. In 2013, The New Yorker criticized the website for prioritizing publishing speed over accuracy.