The Onion, Following Acquisition, Names Former NBC News Reporter Ben Collins CEO – Update

Dade Hayes
·3-min read

UPDATED with executive appointment, additional details. The Onion, which is once again under new ownership, has appointed former NBC News reporter Ben Collins CEO.

G/O Media, which had owned the satire outlet since 2019, announced Thursday that it had sold it to four anonymous digital media veterans calling themselves “Global Tetrahedron,” a nod to an old Onion gag. One of the owners revealed himself to be Jeff Lawson, co-founder of Twilio, a San Francisco-based cloud communications firm with a market value of $11 billion.

More from Deadline

In a post on Twitter/X, Lawson stepped out of the shadows, as did Collins.

“The Onion is an institution, a national treasure, and we need it,” wrote Lawson, who will take the title of Chairman. “But its success is based on something different than most media companies. The Onion has been stifled, along with most of the Internet, by byzantine cookie dialogs, paywalls, bizarro belly fat ads, and clickbait. The Internet sucks, and it’s time we made it better.”

As a call to action, Lawson appealed to readers to donate $1 to The Onion. “A lot of people have asked, what do I get for $2? Twice as much nothing,” the exec added.

PREVIOUSLY:

The Onion has been sold, again. G/O Media has the humor brand to four anonymous investors calling themselves “Global Tetrahedron,” a name derived from one of the site’s own gags.

G/O chief Jim Spanfeller confirmed the news to staffers Thursday in a memo.

The acquiring company “is made up of four digital media veterans with a profound love for The Onion and comedy based content,” Spanfeller wrote. “The site’s new owners have agreed to keep The Onion’s entire staff intact and in Chicago, something we insisted be part of the deal.” Read his memo in full below.

The satirical media outlet has changed hands several times over the past decade. G/O bought it in 2019 and recently sold off The A.V. Club, the Onion’s non-satirical arts and culture section that became its own hub in the digital age.

Back in January, The Onion’s unionized workers came close to a walkout. Employees with The Onion Union — which represents the creative staff at The Onion, The A.V. Club, Deadspin and The Takeout — reached a tentative agreement with G/O Media just hours before their contract was set to expire. The Writers Guild of America East announced the new collective bargaining agreement, which followed the guild’s authorization of an unfair labor practice strike.

According to the guild, the negotiating committee “made important gains in wages and workplace protections.”

Here is Spanfeller’s full memo:

As I mentioned to you last month we have been undergoing an extensive review of our portfolio with the intention of coring down to our leading sites in terms of audience and revenues.  Today we announced great traffic gains for Quartz but also, as part of efforts to sharpen our focus, we are announcing that G/O Media has sold The Onion to a new Chicago based firm called Global Tetrahedron. 

This company is made up of four digital media veterans with a profound love for The Onion and comedy based content.  The site’s new owners have agreed to keep The Onion’s entire staff intact and in Chicago, something we insisted be part of the deal.

The Onion for over 35 years has been an indispensable part of our country’s cultural fabric with its unique brand of satire and comedy that continues to be just as important and relevant today than at any time during its storied history. 

I would like to personally thank The Onion team  for their hard work and dedication during their time at G/O Media. They are a talented group of people, who I have no doubt will continue to flourish with their new owners

Jim Spanfeller | Chief Executive Officer, G/O Media

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest stories