Vivek Ramaswamy sets out to "save" BuzzFeed after buying stock in the company

New York, New York - Businessman and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy recently bought stock in the website BuzzFeed, and he is now demanding the company make some big changes to appease his idea of "truth."

Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (r.) is trying to revamp Buzzfeed in his own image after becoming the 2nd largest shareholder of the company.
Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (r.) is trying to revamp Buzzfeed in his own image after becoming the 2nd largest shareholder of the company.  © Collage: IMAGO / USA TODAY Network, ZUMA Wire, Dreamstime, & UPI Photo

On Tuesday, Ramaswamy announced via X that he is now the "2nd largest Class A shareholder of BuzzFeed" and included a lengthy open letter to the company's board of directors to explain how he believes he can save it, as he believes it has "lost its way."

"I own your stock because I believe BuzzFeed can still become a more valuable company than at its initial listing, but this requires a major shift in strategy," he wrote.

Ramaswamy, a staunch MAGA Republican, continued by arguing that the company contributed to the public's "distrust of the media" since its inception, pointing specifically to their decision to publish the 2017 "Steele Dossier" that contained damning allegations about Donald Trump.

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He went on to urge the company to hire more conservative commentators to create a "greater diversity of thought" and said they needed "a complete, ground-up re-think of every single piece of content being produced at the company."

He also recommended a handful of media figures he approved of, which included Charles Barkley, Tucker Carlson, Bill Maher, and Aaron Rodgers.

"Distinguish yourself from competitors by openly admitting your past journalistic failures and redefine BuzzFeed's brand around the pursuit of truth," Ramaswamy demanded.

Why did Vivek Ramaswamy invest in BuzzFeed?

Vivek Ramaswamy speaking at the 2024 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland on February 24, 2024.
Vivek Ramaswamy speaking at the 2024 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland on February 24, 2024.  © IMAGO / Newscom / AdMedia

In a follow-up X post shared later that day, Ramaswamy admitted that the website is losing money, and "the stock has crashed since going public."

This all begs the question: Why BuzzFeed?

Some critics have posed the idea that Ramaswamy could have started his own platform to push the narratives he believes in instead of buying a company he claims operates antithetical to his beliefs.

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He also could have put his money towards a company he believes is more reputable, which could have served to help grow the conservative community he aims to represent.

During his failed 2024 presidential campaign, Ramaswamy made it a habit to openly criticize legacy and left-leaning media, echoing Trump's cries of "fake news" to dismiss any bad press he receives.

Ramaswamy regularly uses the word "truth" as the label for his distaste of legacy media and insists that he, and people like Tucker Carlson, have the inside knowledge of what truth actually is.

While Ramaswamy's criticism of media is definitely worth discussion, his views are not at all consistent – while he admonishes networks like CNN and NBC for not sharing the "truth," he is a regular on Fox News – a network that was found liable for defaming Dominion Voting Systems by knowingly pushing false claims about the 2020 election being stolen from Trump.

But, because Ramaswamy also believes the election was stolen, he doesn't see the incident as a sufficient reason to question Fox News' credibility in the same way.

In response to Ramaswamy, BuzzFeed's founder and chief executive Jonah Peretti said the letter shows that he has "fundamental misunderstandings" about how the company is run.

Cover photo: Collage: IMAGO / USA TODAY Network, ZUMA Wire, Dreamstime, & UPI Photo

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