BuzzFeed’s newest activist investor, the former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, wants the company to consider moves like hiring the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and the N.B.A. commentator Charles Barkley.
Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s founder and chief executive, has already rejected some of Mr. Ramaswamy’s requests out of hand, setting up a clash between the two men.
Mr. Ramaswamy, an investor who has amassed an 8.3 percent stake in BuzzFeed, sent a letter to the company’s board of directors Monday criticizing its business practices and journalistic efforts. Though he has been steadily buying up stock for months, his intentions for the company didn’t become clear until this week.
Before his brief run for president, Mr. Ramaswamy made a fortune in the pharmaceutical business, selling his company’s stake in promising firms to the Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo.
Mr. Ramaswamy is pushing BuzzFeed to add three new members to its board of directors, to hone its focus on audio and video content and to embrace “greater diversity of thought,” according to a copy of his letter shared with The New York Times.
He also recommended that BuzzFeed cut its staff significantly or risk being forced into bankruptcy by its long-term debt obligations.
