The Daily Beast’s parent company IAC, the massive holding company founded by tech billionaire Barry Diller, is looking to unload the publication on a new owner, The New York Times reported Friday.
According to the Times, IAC has hired consulting firm Whisper Advisors to explore selling the storied tabloid/hard news hybrid website. The process is still very early and a deal may not happen, the New York Times reported, but the issue seems to be that though Daily Beast was one of Diller’s first forays into digital media space, it hasn’t generated the kinds of financial returns IAC wants from its publications.
The Daily Beast was launched in 2008 with founding editor Tina Brown and of course financial backing from Diller and IAC. The site has racked up dozens of huge scoops over the years, including unearthing the scandals that plagued Georgia Republican Herschel Walker’s U.S. Senate campaign.
But it’s one of several major media properties owned by IAC, which includes the magazine publisher formerly known as Meredith and its suite of magazines such as People, InStyle, Real Simple, Better Homes & Gardens, AllRecipes, and Southern Living among others.
Representatives for IAC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.