Vivek Ramaswamy proposed three right-leaning board members during a meeting with BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti — and revealed taking a larger stake in the struggling media company, according to a report
Ramaswamy, the biotech mogul who launched a bid for the Republican nomination before bowing out and throwing his support to former President Donald Trump, held a Zoom meeting last Thursday with Peretti, Axios reported Monday.
The meeting included two individuals that Ramaswamy wants to add to the company’s board — Chris Balfe, a partner at digital marketing firm Red Seat Ventures, and podcaster Patrick Bet-David.
Ramaswamy also wants to add a third person to the board, Clay Travis, the founder of OutKick. Travis did not attend the meeting but was briefed on its details, according to Axios.
The current board includes five members. Ramaswamy wants to expand the board to eight directors.
The news site described the meeting as amicable with the two sides agreeing to sit down in person later this summer or in early fall.
Ramaswamy also revealed Monday that he had upped his stake in BuzzFeed to 8.9% — an increase from 7.7% he reported last month.
Ramaswamy told Axios that the meeting was “productive.”
A BuzzFeed rep told the site: “We appreciate Vivek Ramaswamy’s recommendations, and they will be sent to governance as per the formal process that he is no doubt aware of.”
The Post has sought comment from Ramaswamy, BuzzFeed, OutKick and Red Seat Ventures.
Shares of BuzzFeed, which shut down its once-popular news site last year, soared by more than 16% as of around 2 p.m. Eastern time on Monday. The stock was trading at around $2.48 per share.
When news of Ramaswamy’s initial 7.7% ownership stake surfaced, it sent the stock soaring above $3 per share before it retreated to around $2.
Peretti requested the meeting with Ramaswamy in the wake of the latter’s letter from last month demanding that BuzzFeed appeal to a more conservative audience.
Ramaswamy urged the company to embrace “greater diversity of thought.” He mentioned possible new hires for BuzzFeed including right-leaning commentator Tucker Carlson, centrist comedian Bill Maher, former basketball great Charles Barkley and New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
BuzzFeed has fed into the public’s “distrust of the media” by publishing the controversial “Steele Dossier” in 2017, which contained unproven claims of former President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.
“Distinguish yourself from competitors by openly admitting your past journalistic failures and redefine BuzzFeed’s brand around the pursuit of truth,” Ramaswamy wrote in the letter.
Peretti, who has effective veto power over any proposed changes to the company’s board, responded that Ramaswamy held “fundamental misunderstandings” about BuzzFeed’s business operations, adding that Buzzfeed was “definitely not going to issue an apology for our Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism.”
Earlier this year, BuzzFeed reported a first-quarter loss of $35.7 million, or 72 cents per share, on revenue of $44.8 million.
Advertising revenue fell 22%, while content revenue declined 19% and the company is projecting a worsening revenue situation.
OutKick, the sports and political news and commentary site, is a subsidiary of Fox Corp. — which is sister company to The Post’s parent News Corp.
