Former Republican presidential candidate and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has acquired a minority stake in BuzzFeed, a digital publishing company that shuttered its media outlet last year.
The company’s shares soared on Wednesday.
Ramaswamy acquired a 7.7% stake in BuzzFeed, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Tuesday.
In a statement, Ramaswamy said he believes BuzzFeed stock is undervalued. He wants to talk to the board and management of the company.
BuzzFeed has been struggling to maintain sales since it went public in 2021. At the end of 2022 job cuts have begun the company cited a poor digital advertising environment and then announced early last year that it was shutting down its Pulitzer Prize-winning digital media property. BuzzFeed News.
Parent company co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti said in a memo to employees at the time that in addition to the news department, layoffs would occur in its business, content, technology and administrative teams.
Earlier this month, BuzzFeed reported a first-quarter loss of $35.7 million, or 72 cents per share, on revenue of $44.8 million. Advertising revenue fell 22% and content revenue fell 19%, and The company forecasts a worsening earnings situation.
Ramaswamy has suspended his application for 2024 Republican Presidential Nomination in January and approved former President Donald Trump finishing a distant fourth in First Iowa caucuses.
The son of Indian immigrants, Ramaswamy entered politics at the highest level after making hundreds of millions of dollars at the intersection of hedge funds and pharmaceutical research. He charted and built this career, graduating from Harvard University and then Yale Law School.
Shares of New York-based BuzzFeed Inc. rose 22% to about $3.05 early Wednesday.