Ramaswamy calls for changes to BuzzFeed after acquiring activist stake

Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is calling for major changes to BuzzFeed — from adding new board members to cutting staff to bringing in right-leaning talent — after acquiring an activist stake in the company. 

In a letter to BuzzFeed’s board of directors on Monday, Ramaswamy argued that the company “has lost its way” and “requires a major shift in strategy.” 

The conservative entrepreneur now owns an 8.37 percent stake in BuzzFeed, making him the second-largest Class A shareholder in the company, according to the letter. 

The former GOP candidate urged BuzzFeed in Monday’s letter to invest in talent from “across the political and cultural spectrum,” such as conservative commentators Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson, as well as NFL player Aaron Rodgers, who has been known to dabble in conspiracy theories. 

Ramaswamy also called on BuzzFeed to admit that it “repeatedly lied on issues of national importance, and so did the rest of the media” and urged the company to add three new directors to the board to increase “intellectual diversity” in its leadership. 

“While your competitors focus on racial and gender diversity in the boardroom, you can become the first media company to expressly select for a diversity of viewpoints in your ranks,” he wrote.

“The three new directors who have expressed interest in joining your board will represent a first step in the right direction,” Ramaswamy added. 

He also argued that BuzzFeed needs to “get back to startup size,” which he noted will likely require “large-scale headcount reductions.” The company already slashed 16 percent of its workforce earlier this year. 

BuzzFeed co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti responded to Ramaswamy’s letter, suggesting that he had “some fundamental misunderstandings about the drivers of our business, the values of our audience, and the mission of the company.” 

“I’m very skeptical it makes business sense to turn BuzzFeed into a creator platform for inflammatory political pundits,” Peretti said in an email. “And we’re definitely not going to issue an apology for our Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism.” 

“That said, I welcome outside perspectives from shareholders and am open to hearing more from you,” he added.