Business Insider co-founder Henry Blodget has stepped aside as chief executive after 16 years leading the brand.
Blodget will become chairman of the board and said he would launch further projects with Business Insider and parent company Axel Springer “in the years ahead”.
Blodget is being succeeded by Barbara Peng, who joined the company in 2015 and became its president in 2021, which the company has now said was the beginning of this leadership transition.
Peng’s first major move is to rebrand Insider back to Business Insider to, the company said, refine its “brand positioning”.
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Insider was first launched as a lifestyle brand in 2016 and replaced Business Insider as the company’s overall branding in February 2021.
Editor Nicholas Carlson wrote that he didn’t see it as changing the name “back” to Business Insider as “this move is not about going back. It’s about a new beginning for this company. An exciting new era.”
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He added that the change is “about recommitting to what we do best: our powerful, insightful, and unique coverage of business, tech, and innovation” with “a name that reminds us all that Business Insider isn’t some generic news website built for everybody”.
New CEO Peng said: “I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to lead such a talented and capable team as we work towards positioning Business Insider for the best possible future.
“For us, that’s about honing in on our incredible audience — one that’s driven by ambition, optimism, and curiosity. They love our approach to business, tech, and innovation which not only celebrates progress but the bold innovators driving it.”
The company said Peng had already “played a pivotal role in skilfully steering Business Insider through the challenges of a pandemic and the sharp downturn in the advertising industry, while simultaneously fine-tuning Business Insider’s strategy”. The publisher has a strong subscription base, making it more immune to factors like the ad downturn during the Covid-19 pandemic compared to many digital publishers.
In 2021 Blodget, a former Wall Street technology company analyst, told Press Gazette there would be a “period of shake-out and consolidation. Eventually, some really strong companies will continue to do very well, and we certainly hope to be one of them. In terms of our own patterns, we remain eager to look at potential partners but we’re also confident in our organic growth, so it’s not something we have to do.”
Business Insider began life in 2007 as Silicon Alley Insider with a focus on start-ups and technology before expanding into finance, markets and broader industries including going beyond business. It has been owned by Germany-based publisher Axel Springer since 2015.
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