Vice, Vox and BuzzFeed — the cohort of brassy startups whose leaders loudly declared themselves the future of publishing a little over a decade ago — are all struggling.
BuzzFeed, which managed to go public through a SPAC deal in December, has seen its shares plummet, its stock only recently lifted through an announcement to lower content costs by using AI. Vice lost its CEO Nancy Dubuc on Friday, not long after it reportedly raised $30 million in debt to shore up its financial position as vendors went unpaid, with some suing the company. Ad Vox sold off a big stake in the company at a fraction of its previous worth this month.