- General
- November 14, 2023
- 3 minutes read
Insider Co-Founder Henry Blodget Steps Down As CEO
Henry Blodget, one of the early digital media pioneers, is stepping down as chief executive of Insider Inc., the famed…
Henry Blodget, one of the early digital media pioneers, is stepping down as chief executive of Insider Inc., the famed business and technology news publisher he founded over a decade ago. Blodget will become Insider’s board Chairman and be replaced as chief executive by Barbara Peng, the company’s current President.
Blodget launched Insider in 2007 as “Silicon Alley Insider,” a news blog covering technology companies based in New York City. He launched the publication alongside Kevin Ryan, a serial technology entrepreneur. The site later expanded its coverage to general financial and technology news and rebranded as Business Insider.
Business Insider was funded by investors including Allen & Company and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. In 2015, German media conglomerate Axel Springer acquired Business Insider in a $440mn deal, marking one of the biggest ever digital media exits.
- Blodget remained Business Insider’s chief executive under Axel Springer’s ownership. In 2017, Business Insider began rebranding itself as Insider to reflect its focus on covering other sectors outside business and technology.
- However, Insider Inc. is returning to its roots. Alongside the leadership change, the company announced that it’s rebranding back to Business Insider. It’s scaling back efforts to expand its coverage, which is unsurprising given a challenging economic situation that has dampened revenues and led to numerous layoffs across the media industry.
Before founding Insider, Blodget was a famous Wall Street equity analyst. In 2003, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused him of issuing misleading research reports and lying to customers while working at wealth management firm Merrill Lynch. Blodget paid $4mn to settle the charges and was permanently barred from the American securities markets.
Barbara Peng, Blodget’s replacement, joined Insider in 2015 and became the company’s President in 2021. She’s taking the number one position at the company while Blodget remains partially involved as board Chairman.
