Puck (media company)

Puck is an American digital media company founded in 2021. Puck's coverage aims to cover the 'four centers of power' in the United States: Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Washington and Wall Street.^[1]

Puck

Formation	August 2021; 2 years ago (2021-08)
Type	Digital media company
Official language	English
Editor-in-chief	Jon Kelly
Website	puck.news

Etymology

The name of the company is a play on the name of the character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as a reference to the Puck Building in Manhattan.^[2]

Editorial tone and style

In a 2022 profile, The New Yorker described Puck's editorial tone as being "deliberately clubby," with part of the appeal for readers being that "its writers move in the same elevated spaces as the people whom they cover."^[3] Bloomberg News described Puck as a company that 'treats reporters like social media influencers'^[1]

History

Puck was founded by Joe Purzycki, Jon Kelly, Liz Gough, Julia Ioffe, and Max Tcheyan. The company launched its landing page in August 2021 and debuted in whole in September 2021. In 2021, the company received $7 million in funding from Standard Industries and TPG Growth.^[4][5][6] Purzycki stepped down as CEO of the company in May 2023.^[7] As of August 2023, no permanent replacement for Purzycki has been named.^[8]

Puck debuted a series of podcasts hosted by its writers in September 2021.^[1] In March 2022, the outlet debuted a podcast co-created by Bill Simmons' The Ringer, which is owned by Spotify.^[9]

In August 2023, editor-in-chief Jon Kelly told Axios that the company raised over $10 million in Series B funding.^[8] Puck launched its first-ever live conference events in October 2023, holding an event with former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain at the Top of the Hay in Washington, D.C. Events with Netflix's Bela Bajaria and Goldman Sachs' David M. Solomon are scheduled for later in 2023.^[10]

Notable stories and coverage

Following FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's arrest, Bankman-Fried was interviewed by Puck during his house arrest.^[11][12] Puck has reported on Bankman-Fried's political aspirations prior to his arrest, reporting in September 2023 that he had intended to donate between $15 million to $30 million to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.^[13]

In August 2023, Puck reported on a falling out between Canadian singer Justin Bieber and his longtime manager Scooter Braun. While both parties denied rumors that Bieber was searching for new management, Puck stood by its report. Outlets including Variety and Billboard went on to report on tensions between Bieber and Braun.^[14]

Readership and staff

As of November 2022, Puck had 25 staff members and 200,000 email subscribers, with 20,000 readers paying $12.99 (or $100 annually) for all-access reporting.^[15] The New York Times reported in 2022 the company had a valuation of approximately $70 million following its latest funding round.^[8][16] Puck journalists are given equity in the company and receive bonuses based on the number of subscribers their articles produce.^[17]

References

1. Shaw, Lucas (September 13, 2021). "A New Media Startup Treats Reporters Like Social Media Influencers". Bloomberg News. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
2. Fischer, Sara (April 1, 2021). "Scoop: Buzzy media startup Puck launches in beta". Puck. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
3. Malone, Clare (December 2, 2022). "The E-Mail Newsletter for the Mogul Set". The New Yorker. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
4. Fischer, Sara (August 4, 2021). "Buzzy media startup Puck emerges from stealth mode with big-name hires". Axios. from the original on May 21, 2022. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
5. Ellefson, Lindsey (August 5, 2021). "Dylan Byers, Julia Ioffe, Pete Hamby Join Newly Named Puck News". TheWrap. from the original on May 22, 2022. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
6. Lee, Edmund; Hirsch, Lauren (April 14, 2021). "Former Condé Nast Editor Plans a Vanity Fair for the Substack Era". The New York Times. from the original on May 24, 2022. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
7. Dickey, Josh (May 8, 2023). "Puck News Co-Founder and CEO Joe Purzycki Steps Down". TheWrap. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
8. Fischer, Sara (August 8, 2023). "Exclusive: Media startup Puck raises more than $10M". Axios. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
9. Fischer, Sara (March 8, 2022). "Puck launches new podcast with The Ringer". Axios. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
10. Fischer, Sara (October 17, 2023). "Puck launches live event conference series". Axios. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
11. Stieb, Matt (January 12, 2023). "Sam Bankman-Fried Has a New Defense Strategy: Blogging". Intelligencer. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
12. Bonos, Lisa (March 4, 2023). "Sam Bankman-Fried is under house arrest at Stanford. Students are obsessed". Washington Post. Retrieved October 29, 2023. While awaiting his fraud trial later this year, Bankman-Fried wears an ankle bracelet to track his movements and plays with his new dog, Sandor, according to a Puck News report.
13. Al-Sibai, Noor (October 3, 2023). "Sam Bankman-Fried's Dog Apparently Is Trained to Kill, But He Doesn't Know the Command". Futurism. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
14. Cohen, Danielle (August 25, 2023). "Why Is Everyone Dumping Scooter Braun?". The Cut. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
15. Stenberg, Mark (November 2, 2022). "Puck, Channeling Magazines Past, Nears 200,000 Subscribers". Adweek. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
16. Mullin, Benjamin; Robinson, Katie (October 20, 2022). "Are We Past Peak Newsletter?". The New York Times. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
17. Perman, Stacy (August 2, 2022). "Two new Hollywood newsletters are betting they've got the town covered". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 31, 2023. At Puck, journalists are given equity in the business and, in addition to salaries, receive bonuses based on the number of subscriptions their work produces. They also receive compensation based on IP development.

External links

• Official website