IBT Media

IBT Media is an American global digital news organization with over 90 million monthly readers, owned by followers of religious leader David Jang.[1][2] It publishes the International Business Times and Medical Daily, among others. IBT Media is headquartered in New York City, in the Hanover Square neighborhood of Lower Manhattan.[3] As of 2014, the company posted revenue of about $21 million and generated a profit of about $500,000.[1]

IBT Media
Type of site
Publication
OwnerEtienne Uzac, Johnathan Davis
URLcorp.ibt.com
CommercialYes
Launched2006 (2006) (as IBT Media)
Current statusActive

Overview

Founded as IBT Media in 2006, the company has several brands that it has built organically through specialty vertical sites and also international editions.[4]

IBT Media focuses on online publication.

Corporate structure and revenue

IBT Media is a privately held company, formerly owned by Etienne Uzac and Johnathan Davis.[5] The company has not received outside funding,[6] and has grown with a focus on being an "efficient company", concentrating on the "revenue side as well as on the expenses".[7][8]

It started in 2006, with personal savings, an SBA bank loan, and no input, financial or advisory, from VCs.[6] It has been profitable since 2010.[4][6][7][8]

It has also grown through the acquisition of Newsweek.[9]

The company derives its profits primarily from advertising and has been profitable since 2010.[8] It says it has recently undertaken new ventures to become a "multi-product global media group"[10] and to diversify capital, including adopting Newsweek's subscription models across its properties, and launching a new business-to-business arm.[4][7][11]

On September 14, 2018, after completing the strategic structural changes initially announced in March, IBT Media spun off into two separate companies—Newsweek and IBT Media.

Partnerships

IBT Media says it has an ongoing "working relationship" with Olivet University which includes the school providing design assistance and computer resources, and IBT Media providing internships for students. It characterizes it as similar to the relationships Silicon Valley companies have with local universities.[9] However, publication Christianity Today alleges that IBT Media has a close relationship both with Olivet and with its founder, controversial[9][12] evangelical pastor David J. Jang. It claims that Jang is an investor in and has exercised control over IBT Media, that Davis was formerly director of journalism at Olivet, and that Uzac was its treasurer, at least at one time.[9][13][14] Executives characterize the relationship as between the institutions and not the founders, and that it was purely operational.[8][9]

IBT Media is part of Economist's "Ideas Channel", an ad-network based on mindset rather than demographics, set up in part to reach "an intellectual and often influential audience interested in business, politics and science".[15] The company's Bizu video platform partners with IDG Communications and France 24. for content, and Digitas and PJA Advertising and others for monetization of the platform.[10][16]

The company's brands publish to a number of 3rd party platforms, including Flipboard, Zite, and The Washington Post's Social Reader.[17]

Controversies

In January 2018 Manhattan District Attorney staff raided the company's offices, taking away eighteen computer servers, in what Newsweek reported was part of an investigation into company finances. On 1 February 2018 co-owner and chairman, Etienne Uzac, and his wife Marion Kim who acted as finance director, resigned.[18][19] Uzac was convicted, pleading guilty to avoid jail time.[20]

On February 20, 2018, Newsweek reported on the DA's investigation into its parent company, and its relationship with Olivet University.[19][21]

Following the publication of the story, several Newsweek staff were fired and some editors threatened to resign stating that management had tried to interfere in the story's publication (veteran IBT journalist Matthew Cooper did resign).[22][23] On October 10, 2018, it was reported by the Wall Street Journal that IBT Media was charged with defrauding lenders.[24]

On June 30, 2022, the New York State Education Department officially ended Olivet's authorization to operate in the state citing that their failings "are part of a larger pattern of poor administration and addressing such problems only after being caught in a criminal conspiracy."[25][26]

On July 6, 2022, a lawsuit was filed in New York state by Newsweek’s current owner, NW Media Holdings Corp., seeking to enforce IBT’s “contractual obligation to indemnify NW Media Holdings for the multi-million-dollar losses incurred as a result of IBT’s former mismanagement of Newsweek.”[27] The lawsuit also the lawsuit names several defendants in addition to IBT Media, a company that owned Newsweek until 2018, including religious leader David Jang and Etienne Uzac, a former CEO and chairman of Newsweek.[28] Additional lawsuits have been filed by Newsweek co-owners Johnathan Davis and Dev Pragad against each other, alleging various grievances including stolen trade secrets, records falsification and reputational damage.[29]

Innovations

IBT Media had run on a proprietary content management system that it has built over several years, though based on examination of the HTML source, it currently runs Drupal. The company started to tie-in real-time analytics into the newsroom as early as 2010, and based on those results, optimize follow-up content, positioning, and editorial calendars to serve readers. Social feedback is also built into the newsroom.[30]

The company has also created platforms for content. Bizu, a video platform for business professionals hosts content and also offers incremental revenue streams to content providers.[10]

Assets
  • International Business Times – global business and economic news, in seven languages across ten editions[31]
  • Medical Daily – medical news site[32]
  • Latin Times – Latin American-oriented news site[33]
  • iDigitalTimes (now Player One) – technology and digital media news site[34]

Chronology
  • 2006 – International Business Times incorporates in New York.[35]
  • 2008–2010 – IBTimes launches specialty verticals: Jobs, Health, Real Estate, Education and Travel.
  • 2011 – IBTimes moves into Newsweek's old offices after 1,200% growth for the year.[3]
  • 2012 – International Business Times reincorporates as IBT Media, the new parent company to IBTimes, and launches Bizu, a video web portal and platform.[16]
  • 2013 – Medical Daily, HollywoodTake, and Latin Times[36] are launched.
  • 2013 – Newsweek is acquired.[37][38]
  • 2014 – Newsweek returns to print,[39] and the Newsweek operations becomes profitable[40]
  • 2017 – Company rebrands as Newsweek Media Group.[41]
  • 2018 – Newsweek is spun off into a separate legal entity.[42]
  • 2018 – Company rebrands back to IBT Media after separating from Newsweek.[43]
  • 2020 – Former owner Etienne Uzac pleads guilty to money laundering and fraud.

References
  1. Kaufman, Leslie. "Tiny Digital Publisher to Put Newsweek Back in Print". NYTimes. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  2. "Newsweek sues former owners, controversial pastor David Jang, seeking millions". Religion News Service. July 8, 2022.
  3. Stoeffel, Kat (July 6, 2011). "Braving Bad Juju, International Business Times Moves Into Newsweek's Old Newsroom". The New York Observer. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  4. Rondon, Michael. "Meet IBT Media: The Future of Newsweek". Folio. Archived from the original on August 9, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  5. Tracy, Marc (February 14, 2020). "A Former Owner of Newsweek Pleads Guilty in a Fraud Scheme". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  6. "The mysterious company that just bought Newsweek". Fortune. Archived from the original on August 10, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  7. Sebastian, Michael. "What IBTimes wants with Newsweek". adage. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  8. Bercovici, Jeff (August 5, 2013). "Meet the mysterious duo who just bought Newsweek". Forbes. New York. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  9. Lauria, Peter (August 3, 2013). "Newsweek's New Owners Say They Bought "A Lot Of Cachet"". BuzzFeed. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  10. Knight, Kristina (January 14, 2013). "New platform to focus on business related media". BizReport. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  11. Politi, Daniel. "Where the second minute story counts more than the first". Slate. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  12. Smietana, Bob (July 16, 2012). "LifeWay land deal with Calif. school faces scrutiny". USA Today. Archived from the original on March 8, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  13. McCarthy, Tom (August 5, 2013). "Newsweek is dead. Long live Newsweek?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  14. Bercovici, Jeff (August 5, 2013). "Meet The Mysterious Duo Who Just Bought Newsweek". Forbes. New York. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  15. Siegel, Fern. "Economist Ideas Channel Targets Elite". MediaPost. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  16. "Cynopsis Digital". Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  17. Owen, Laura Hazard (July 23, 2012). "IBT Media Launches 'The Latin Times' Targeting U.S. Hispanics". PaidContent. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  18. Gold, Hadas (February 1, 2018). "Chair of embattled Newsweek Media Group resigns". CNN Money. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  19. Katz, Celeste; Keefe, Josh; Saul, Josh (February 20, 2018). "Why Is the Manhattan DA Looking at Newsweek's Ties to a Christian University?". Newsweek. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  20. Tracy, Marc (February 14, 2020). "A Former Owner of Newsweek Pleads Guilty in a Fraud Scheme". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  21. IBT Staff Report (February 21, 2018). "Newsweek Media Group Will Work More Closely With Christian University, Founder Says". International Business Times.
  22. Rushe, Dominic (February 21, 2018). "Newsweek plunged into chaos by its own reporters' exposé". The Guardian. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  23. Schmidt, Samantha (February 21, 2018). "Newsweek publishes exposé about itself after controversial staff firings". Washington Post. Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  24. Alpert, Lukas I.; O'Brien, Rebecca Davis (October 10, 2018). "Newsweek's Parent Company Charged With Defrauding Lenders". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  25. Jamali, Naveed (July 2, 2022). "New York Shuts Down Olivet University Amid Federal Money-Laundering Probe". Newsweek.
  26. Belz, Emily (July 6, 2022). "New York Shuts Down Embattled Olivet University Campus". Christianity Today.
  27. Smietana, Bob; Jenkins, Jack (July 7, 2022). "Newsweek sues former owners, controversial pastor David Jang, seeking millions". Religious News Service.
  28. Rouhandeh, Alex J. (July 8, 2022). "Newsweek Sues David Jang, Leader of Sect Under Federal Investigation". Newsweek.
  29. Bruell, Alexandra (July 29, 2022). "Newsweek Engulfed in Legal Drama as Co-Owners Sue Each Other". The Wall Street Journal.
  30. Moses, Lucia. "Newsweek Relaunches in Print". AdWeek. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  31. "Corporate Brands". Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  32. "About Us". Medical Daily. IBT Media. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  33. "About Us". Latin Times. IBT Media. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  34. "About Us". iDigitalTimes. IBT Media. Archived from the original on January 6, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  35. "Corporate Timeline". Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  36. Martinez, Laura. "IBT Media Launches 'The Latin Times' Targeting U.S. Hispanics". Portada. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  37. Haughney, Christine (August 4, 2013). "Newsweek, Sold in 2010, Changing Hands Again". The New York Times. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  38. Launder, William (August 3, 2013). "IBT Media to Buy Newsweek from IAC". The Wall Street Journal. New York. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  39. "Tiny Digital Publisher to Put Newsweek Back in Print". The New York Times. March 3, 2014.
  40. "Newsweek announces it's profitable". Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  41. "IBT Media Is Rebranding as Newsweek Media Group". Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  42. "Newsweek Media Group Splits into Separate Companies: Newsweek, IBT Media". Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  43. Newsweek. "Newsweek Media Group Splits Into Two Companies -- Newsweek & IBT Media". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
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