Byron Allen is adding another major property to his media empire. On Monday, BuzzFeed announced that Allen Family Digital has agreed to acquire a 52 percent majority stake in the digital media company for $120 million.
Upon closing, Allen becomes Chairman and CEO of BuzzFeed, Inc., which also owns HuffPost.
The deal is structured as $20 million in cash at closing and a $100 million promissory note due in five years, accruing 5 percent annual interest. Allen Family Digital acquires 40 million shares at $3.00 per share, a significant premium over BuzzFeed’s current trading price of $0.73. The transaction is expected to close by the end of May 2026.
Jonah Peretti, who co-founded BuzzFeed in 2006, will step aside as CEO and move into a newly created role as President of BuzzFeed AI.
“Byron’s vision, operational experience, and long-term commitment to premium content makes him exceptionally well-positioned to lead BuzzFeed and HuffPost into our next phase of growth,” Peretti said in a statement.
Allen plans to expand BuzzFeed and HuffPost into free streaming video, audio, and user-generated content, building on the brands’ global audience reach and plugging them into the distribution infrastructure Allen Media Group has spent three decades constructing.
“Our vision is to build on the iconic foundation of BuzzFeed and HuffPost by expanding into free-streaming video, audio and user-generated content,” Allen said.
The move comes as CBS announced that Allen Media Group’s Comics Unleashed will take over The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’s 11:35 p.m. time slot beginning May 22. Allen is simultaneously stepping into one of late night television’s most prominent slots and the top seat at one of digital media’s most recognized companies.
