Semafor CEO Justin B. Smith was accused by Kind founder and “Shark Tank” investor Daniel Lubetzky on Wednesday of taking a “bribe” from Qatar in having received millions of dollars for journalism training that cost a fraction of that amount, and later giving the Gulf state favorable coverage in the news publication.
In a video posted on X, Lubetzky recalled Smith pitching him to invest in Semafor and described receiving millions of dollars from Qatar for journalism training that cost roughly $50,000 to provide. Lubetzky acknowledged he couldn’t remember the exact amounts.
“And I remember telling Justin [Smith], ‘This doesn’t make sense. They’re bribing you,’” Lubetzky said. “Nobody would pay off-market 20x, 100x. This is a bribe.”
He said Smith dismissed the concern, responding, “No, no, no, of course not.”
Lubetzky also accused Semafor of providing biased coverage of Qatar in the years since, singling out a recent article defending the Gulf state. “For years, I’ve noticed the biased coverage that Semafor has towards the government of Qatar,” he said.
The criticism follows an Oct. 26 article by Semafor Gulf editor Mohammed Sergie titled “Accusations of Qatar’s terror-funding and influence hold little evidence.” The piece challenged longstanding allegations involving Qatar’s support for militant groups and its influence abroad.
A Semafor spokesperson defended the company’s journalism-training programs and said its reporting was not influenced by commercial partners, but did not answer TheWrap’s questions about who funded the workshops or how much Semafor received. Its statement that the company has never accepted government investment does not address payments for commercial services.
“Semafor is proud to have hosted the Independent Media Initiative workshop with Al-Monitor to train young journalists from around the world,” the spokesperson told TheWrap. “Semafor has never accepted investment from any government or sovereign wealth fund, and we remain firmly committed to independent journalism. Our reporting is guided by facts and free from influence by advertisers or commercial partners.”
When Semafor announced its Gulf expansion in July 2024, it named Invest Qatar as an inaugural launch partner alongside First Abu Dhabi Bank and technology company G42. Semafor Gulf launched that September under editor Sergie.
The company has also participated in journalism-training programs in Qatar alongside Al-Monitor. In December 2025, the two organizations delivered a three-day workshop hosted by Media City Qatar and Qatar Leadership Centre, covering interviewing, fact-checking, conflict reporting and digital storytelling.
Neither Semafor’s training programs nor its commercial partnerships establish improper payments or editorial interference. There is no independently verified evidence that Qatar influenced Sergie’s article or other Semafor coverage.
