International Business Times

• 1. Founding And Early Strategy

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  Etienne Uzac conceived the idea for a global business news site while studying at the London School of Economics. He noticed that existing strong business newspapers focused almost exclusively on the United States and Europe. Uzac recruited Johnathan Davis to join him in building an enterprise with broader geographic coverage. In late 2005, both men moved to New York City to launch the International Business Times. Uzac handled business strategy while Davis coded the website and wrote its first articles. The publication officially launched online in April 2006 as ibtimes.com. This initial version provided summaries of global news supplemented by a dedicated Foreign Exchange portal added in November 2007.

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• 2. Editorial Evolution And Leadership

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  Jeffery Rothfeder joined the company in May 2012 as editor-in-chief after serving as a national news editor at Bloomberg. Johnathan Davis transitioned from his role as executive editor to become chief content officer during this same period. Peter S. Goodman took over as editor-in-chief in 2014 following Goodman's departure from The Huffington Post. Goodman left the company in 2016 and was replaced by Dayan Candappa who previously served as deputy managing editor at Reuters. Between March and July 2016, IBT laid off approximately thirty percent of its editorial staff. Pragad arrived from London in early 2017 to serve as global CEO for Newsweek and IBTs parent company. Alan Press received appointment in January 2017 to a newly created strategic role as President.

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• 3. Awards And Investigative Impact

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  The International Business Times won or was nominated for multiple journalism awards starting in 2012 including best investigative journalism and editor of the year. In 2015 the publication received a Gerald Loeb Award nomination for reporting on state pension corruption. This series prompted New Jersey officials to open a formal pay-to-play investigation and divest holdings in a venture capital firm. San Francisco authorities delayed a proposed three billion dollar investment in hedge funds after reviewing similar reports. Four Best in Business awards came from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers in 2016. One winning piece examined exorbitant fees charged to prisoners which triggered a response from the Federal Communications Commission. Another series about the business of marijuana won the Small Business Category that same year. Trudy Lieberman credited David Sirota's reporting with driving reform calls in Connecticut health insurance regulation.

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• 4. Controversies And Legal Disputes

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  IBT Media announced its acquisition of Newsweek and the domain newsweek.com from IAC/InterActiveCorp on the 4th of August 2013. A legal dispute initiated by IBT Media in 2022 regarding separation terms was dismissed and upheld on appeal in 2023. By 2024 the matter closed due to statute of limitations. Employees complained publicly in 2016 about missed payroll payments and meager severance packages. Some staff faced one-sided nondisclosure agreements during this period. Reports described links between IBT Media and Olivet University an evangelical institution founded by David Jang. Some Olivet students allegedly assisted IBT Media with translation and editorial work. IBT representatives stated their association with Olivet is limited to educational and professional collaborations. Both co-founders acknowledged past academic and professional involvement with Olivet University while maintaining they operate independently.

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• 5. Global Expansion And Digital Presence

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  The International Business Times publishes five national editions across four languages including Australia India Singapore U.K. and U.S. versions. The publication claimed forty million unique visitors each month in 2014 according to company data. Revenues reached approximately twenty-one million dollars in 2013. In early 2017 the outlet joined partnerships with Bloomberg Channel 4 and the BBC to combat fake news spread. Jason Murdock won Digital Writer of the year at the Drum Online Media Awards in June 2017 for his cybersecurity coverage. John Crowley became UK editor-in-chief that same year after leaving the Wall Street Journal as EMEA digital editor. A design update in 2017 highlighted journalism quality to better serve advertisers. The site underwent several revamps since 2007 reacting to changes in online media landscapes.

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