Business Insider facts for kids
 |
|
|
Type of site
|
Financial news website |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Headquarters | New York City, U.S. |
| Owner | Axel Springer SE |
| Created by | Kevin P. Ryan, Henry Blodget |
| Editor | Jamie Heller |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Launched | 2007 |
| Current status | Active |
| OCLC number | 1076392313 |
Business Insider is a popular online news website. It focuses on financial and business news. It started in New York City in 2007.
Since 2015, a big publishing company called Axel Springer SE has owned most of Business Insider. The website also has different versions for other countries, like the United Kingdom.
Business Insider creates its own news stories. It also shares news from other places. It has been nominated for awards. Sometimes, it has been criticized for using exciting headlines that might not be fully accurate. From 2021 to 2023, the website was known simply as Insider. It changed its name back to Business Insider in November 2023.
In 2023, Business Insider started changing how it works. It began using more artificial intelligence (AI) tools in 2024. This also led to some changes in its staff.
Contents
How Business Insider Started
Business Insider began in 2007. It was founded by Kevin P. Ryan, Dwight Merriman, and Henry Blodget. They started it by bringing together different blogs about specific industries. Two of these early blogs were Silicon Alley Insider and Clusterstock.
The website shares and looks at business news. It also collects news stories on many other topics. In 2014, it launched a version for the United Kingdom. In 2020, it opened an office in Singapore.
After Axel Springer SE bought Business Insider in 2015, some employees left. Some said that getting lots of website visitors became more important than deep news reporting. In 2017, Business Insider started a paid service called BI Prime. This service put some articles behind a paywall, meaning you had to pay to read them.
In 2020, the CEO, Henry Blodget, shared big plans for the website. He wanted it to have 1 million paid readers. He also aimed for 1 billion unique visitors each month.
In 2022, Insider won a special award called the Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary. This was its first Pulitzer Prize ever. It won for a comic series called "How I escaped a Chinese internment camp." The series told the story of a woman escaping difficult conditions. It was created by illustrator Fahmida Azim and her team.
In 2023 and 2024, Business Insider made some changes to its staff. In May 2025, more staff changes happened. The CEO, Barbara Peng, said the website was focusing a lot on AI. She mentioned that they had launched many AI-powered products.
How Business Insider Makes Money
Business Insider first made a profit in late 2010. In 2011, it had 45 full-time employees. At that time, its main readers were investors and financial experts. By June 2012, the website had 5.4 million unique visitors.
In 2013, Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon, invested in Business Insider. His company owned about 3 percent of Business Insider when it was bought in 2015.
In 2015, Axel Springer SE bought 88 percent of the company that owns Business Insider. They paid $343 million for this share. This meant the whole company was valued at about $442 million.
Different Parts of Business Insider
Business Insider has a paid section called BI Intelligence. This part started in 2013.
In 2015, Business Insider launched a technology website called Tech Insider. It had 40 people working on it. Tech Insider later became part of the main Business Insider website.
Also in 2015, Business Insider started Insider Picks. This section helps people find the best products to buy. It is now called Insider Reviews.
In 2016, Business Insider created Markets Insider. This was a joint project with another company called Finanzen.net.
How Reliable is Business Insider?
Business Insider has sometimes faced criticism for its reliability. For example, in 2010, it wrongly reported that a governor was going to resign. It also reported a false story about Steve Jobs having a heart attack.
In 2011, Business Insider allowed people who work in public relations to write directly for the website. Also, in 2011, Business Insider allowed the use of anonymous sources. This means they could use information from people who did not want their names shared. Many news places try to avoid this or explain why a source is not named.
Business Insider publishes a mix of its own original stories. It also shares content from other news sources. The website has also published "native advertising." This is advertising that looks like regular news content.
See also
In Spanish: Business Insider para niños
