CEO of IAC’s Daily Beast Heather Dietrick will depart the news website at the end of 2023, according to an internal memo obtained Wednesday by TheWrap.
Dietrick will remain on through the end of the year as the website searches for her replacement. She will follow her exit from the Daily Beast with a role as chief media officer at Outside Interactive, which houses 13 editorial brands.
“It is with mixed emotions that I write to share that after six incredible years, I will be moving on from the Daily Beast to become Chief Media Officer at publisher Outside, Inc., where I will combine my passion for media with my love of engaging in the world of the outdoors,” Dietrick wrote.
“When I arrived at the Beast six years ago, I set out on a mission to take a largely ad-supported business and diversify revenue while enhancing its journalism, and over this remarkable adventure together, we did just that,” continued the Daily Beast CEO. “We’ve built a premium subscription product that proves our journalism is worth paying for, fueled by a rapidly growing subscriber base, and a best-in-class ecommerce business in Scouted.”
Variety first reported on Dietrick’s memo and departure.
The Daily Beast launched its first subscription tier under her leadership, providing unlimited access to content on the site and ad-free newsletters.
Dietrick also highlighted the launch and subsequent expansion of the Daily Beast’s pop-culture vertical Obsessed, which she praised as a “seven-figure business on its own, that has made Hollywood and our premium advertising partners stand up and take notice — in signature Beast style.”
In January, the Daily Beast’s parent company IAC, founded by Barry Diller, was reportedly shopping the website around and engaging in exploratory talks to sell.
That, however, was squashed as detailed by The New York Times in June, which reported that the Daily Beast was no longer for sale. Diller said in a statement that the company did engage in negotiations with The Ankler, but had since “withdrawn” the efforts.
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