In 2018, IBT spun out Newsweek as an independent entity co-owned by Pragad and Jonathan Davis, who was the CEO of IBT until December 2022. In July 2022, IBT sued Pragad and the holding group that manages Newsweek, seeking to undo the 2018 deal.
That suit was dismissed in December 2022, after which IBT appealed the decision in June 2023. The appellate court dismissed the appeal and reaffirmed the validity of the contract authorizing the spin-out, according to public legal documents. In September 2024, the controversy passed the six-year statute of limitations, making it impossible for IBT to advance any further claims.
The multiyear saga weighed on Newsweek financially, on top of absorbing the attention of its newsroom, which fastidiously covered the melodrama, and its executive team. The debt Newsweek owed stemming from its IBT ownership also forced the publisher to manage costs stringently, which led to criticism of its practices at the time.
New and expanded business lines
The company has since dug itself out from its financial and legal burdens and is now focused on using its growing profitability to build for the future. Chief among these priorities is a series of commercial objectives.
First, it aims to increase the portion of its advertising revenue generated through direct efforts, according to head of sales Danielle Varvaro.
In 2024, it generated about 80% of its ad revenue through programmatic and 20% through direct sales. In 2025, the company is aiming for 60% and 40%, respectively by growing its business-to-business advertising operation, verticalizing its non-news content, and working with relevant brands.
Core to that effort is a nascent events business, which Newsweek only began monetizing last year. In October it hired Megan Knapp, who led experiential at Digiday for 10 years, to build out the new division. The company aims to host 30 events this year.
Both this push into business-to-business advertising and events coincide with another major initiative from Newsweek: its rankings business, which uses Newsweek reporting to rank businesses within its non-news content, then monetizes the rankings with brand licensing deals.
This division has been the fastest-growing part of the Newsweek business for the last two years, and in 2024 it made up 13% of Newsweek’s overall revenue, according to Pragad. Content syndication makes up about 16% of its revenue.
The company has also begun exploring a series of potential subscription efforts.
Still, the company plans to approach all of its new ventures with an iterative mindset, part of its broader emphasis on experimentation.
“Just because you have a plan doesn’t mean it’s going to work—you try ten things and you’re lucky if two or three work,” Pragad said. “The real question is: What do you do with those learnings? I think our team is good at that.”