Short answers, pulled from the story.
William Bernard Ziff Sr. founded Ziff Davis and launched Popular Aviation in August 1927. The publication quickly grew to a circulation of 100,000 copies, making it the most widely read air publication of its time.
Ziff Davis filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2008 to restructure its debt and operations. The company emerged from bankruptcy in July 2009, discontinuing the print version of PC Magazine and focusing on its online properties.
Ziff Davis acquired CNET from Red Ventures for $100 million in August 2024 and Gamer Network from ReedPop in May 2024. The company also acquired The Skimm in March 2025 and Well+Good and Livestrong from Graham Holdings in July 2025.
J2 Global rebranded as Ziff Davis in September 2021 after completing a split into two separate publicly traded companies. The cloud fax business was spun off as Consensus while J2 retained its media properties.
Ziff Davis transitioned to the digital age in the 1990s by launching ZDNet in late 1994 and acquiring PC Magazine in 1982. The company initiated ZiffNet, a subscription service for CompuServe users, which evolved into a news website and later became a major player in the digital media landscape.