Gizmodo Media Group was an

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

company and

blog network On the World Wide Web, a link farm is any group of websites that all hyperlink to other sites in the group for the purpose of increasing SEO rankings. In graph theoretic terms, a link farm is a clique. Although some link farms can be created ...

formerly operated by Univision Communications (now

TelevisaUnivision TelevisaUnivision (formerly known as Univision Communications) is a Mexican-American media company headquartered in New York and Mexico City, which owns the American Spanish language broadcast network Univision. 45% of the company is held by the ...

) in its

Fusion Media Group The Fusion Media Group (FMG; formerly Fusion Media Network) is a division of Univision Communications. The company was launched in April 2016 after Univision bought out Disney's stake in Fusion through the Fusion Media Network joint venture between ...

division. The company was created from assets acquired from

Gawker Media Gawker Media LLC (formerly Blogwire, Inc. and Gawker Media, Inc.) was an American Online and offline, online Mass media, media company and Link farm#Blog network, blog network. It was founded by Nick Denton in October 2003 as Blogwire, and was ba ...

during its bankruptcy in 2016. In April 2019, Gizmodo and The Onion were sold to

private equity firm A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including lev ...

Great Hill Partners, which combined them into a new company named

G/O Media G/O Media Inc. is an American media holding company that runs ''Gizmodo'', ''Kotaku'', ''Jalopnik'', '' Deadspin'', ''Lifehacker'', '' Jezebel'', '' The Root'', '' The A.V. Club'', ''The Takeout'', '' The Onion'', and ''The Inventory''. Hist ...

History

Univision acquisition (2016)

On June 10, 2016, Gawker Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the company was ordered to pay $115 million in compensatory damages and a further $25 million in punitive damages in ''

Bollea v. Gawker ''Bollea v. Gawker'' was a lawsuit filed in 2013 in the Circuit Court of the Sixth Judicial Circuit in and for Pinellas County, Florida, delivering a verdict on March 18, 2016. In the suit, Terry Gene Bollea, known professionally as Hulk Hoga ...

''. On August 16, 2016, Univision Communications purchased Gawker for $135 million. The purchase did not include the flagship website Gawker. It included the websites Gizmodo, Jezebel, Deadspin, Kotaku, Jalopnik, and Lifehacker. Univision named the unit Gizmodo Media Group after one of its blogs, '' Gizmodo'', in an effort to distance itself from the Gawker name. On September 10, 2016, Univision removed six controversial posts from various Gawker Media sites, each with the note: "This story is no longer available as it is the subject of pending litigation against the prior owners of this site." On September 21, 2016,

Raju Narisetti Raju Narisetti (born 1966) is a career journalist and former editor at major international newspapers who has served as global publishing director at McKinsey & Company since 2020. From July 2018 to December 2019, he was a professor of professio ...

was named as CEO of Gizmodo Media Group.

Very Smart Brothas

On July 7, 2017, Gizmodo Media Group acquired the blog Very Smart Brothas.

Earther

In September 2017, Gizmodo Media Group launched its first new stand-alone site since acquisition from Gawker Media,

Earther Earther is an environmental news website owned by Univision Communications and was launched in September 2017. History Earther launched with the mission to chronicle three main topics: "The future of Earth," "The future of humans on Earth," an ...

, devoted to environmental news, with Managing Editor Maddie Stone.

Televisa

In December 2017, Gizmodo Media Group announced a partnership with Mexican media conglomerate

Televisa Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...

to launch Spanish-language editions of websites such as ''Gizmodo'', ''Deadspin'', ''Kotaku'', ''Jalopnik'' and ''Jezebel''.

Struggles and sale

On May 8, 2018, the GMG Special Projects Desk published an article that highlighted various issues plaguing

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

. On June 28, 2018, ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'' reported that over forty GMG staffers would be taking union-negotiated buyouts, thereby averting layoffs. On July 10, 2018, Univision announced that it would "explore" the option of selling all of the Gizmodo Media Group and ''

The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satire, satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on ...

'' websites under its ownership.

Great Hill Partners acquisition (2019)

In April 2019, private equity firm Great Hill Partners agreed to purchase Gizmodo Media Group and ''The Onion'' from Univision. The sale was completed on April 8, 2019, with Gizmodo Media Group and ''The Onion'' being combined into a new company named

References

{{Univision Communications . 2019 mergers and acquisitions Blog networks Former Univision Communications subsidiaries Fusion Media Group Mass media companies based in New York City Mass media companies established in 2016 Private equity portfolio companies