Exclusive: Jonah Peretti explains why he sold BuzzFeed
From Decoder with Nilay Patel by The Verge
May 18, 2026 · 1h 10m
About this episode
Jonah Peretti discusses the sale of BuzzFeed and the company's new direction amidst financial challenges.
Just days before we spoke, BuzzFeed co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti agreed to sell the company, which was losing money and at risk of shutting down. Now there’s a new lease on life — and new leadership. Jonah is taking on a new role as president of BuzzFeed AI, and Byron Allen will become CEO of BuzzFeed. That’s obviously a huge structural and organizational change, and a really big decision — prime Decoder bait if there ever was any. What are digital media companies doing to adapt and survive in an information landscape dominated by algorithmic social platforms? Read the full interview transcript on The Verge. Links: Byron Allen is buying BuzzFeed and becoming CEO | Variety BuzzFeed issues going concern warning, lacks liquidity | Wall Street Journal BuzzFeed News is shutting down | The Verge BuzzFeed sells Hot Ones studio in $82.5M deal | NBC News The unbearable lightness of BuzzFeed | The Verge I hate myself because I don’t work for BuzzFeed (2015) | The Awl Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Decoder is produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt; this episode was…
People in this episode
Host: Nilay Patel
Guest: Jonah Peretti
Topics covered
- BuzzFeed sale
- digital media
- leadership change
- algorithmic platforms
- media adaptation
Keywords
- BuzzFeed
- Jonah Peretti
- Byron Allen
- digital media
- leadership change
- algorithmic platforms
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: BuzzFeed, The Verge, Vox Media Podcast Network, Breakmaster Cylinder
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