Business Insider founder Henry Blodget is departing as a board member of the company he founded in 2007.
In a note to his staff on Friday, Blodget said he would pursue other ventures, but would remain as an “advisor and supporter.” He added that he would contribute occasional Business Insider columns, has a novel in the works and will “help with launching new journalism projects.” He didn’t specify what may be brewing on the latter.
Blodget first began pulling away in 2023, relinquishing his CEO title. At the time, the publication was shifting its focus, returning to its “Business Insider” title after a three-year stint as “Insider.” The shortened name had reflected an attempt to become a general interest publication.
He waxed nostalgic in announcing his board departure on Friday. “Seventeen years ago, in the early days of Business Insider, I learned about the ‘startup-founder life cycle,’” he wrote. The goal was to “make yourself irrelevant,” he said, and then “you had to fire yourself — or you would just get in the way.”
Blodget said he was in the end-stages of that cycle for the last few years.
He shared his memory of starting out on the loading dock of another New York-based startup, growing the company to the point where his then 5-year-old daughter got lost in the early office.
“Fortunately, we kept the flame burning,” Blodget wrote. “And over the next two decades, thanks to you and many others, we have grown it into a roaring fire. Business Insider has become bigger, more meaningful, and better than I ever thought possible. And our best days are still ahead.”
He closed, “It has been an enormous privilege to work with you. And I’ll be rooting for you and BI forever.”
