Description
Puck is an American digital media company founded in 2021. Puck's coverage aims to cover the 'four centers of power' in the United States: Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Washington and Wall Street.
History
Puck was founded by Joe Purzycki, Jon Kelly, Liz Gough, Julia Ioffe, and Max Tcheyan. The company launched its landing page in August 2021 and debuted in whole in September 2021. In 2021, the company received $7 million in funding from Standard Industries and TPG Growth. Purzycki stepped down as CEO of the company in May 2023. On January 5, 2024, Sarah Personette, the former head of ad sales at Twitter, was announced as the company's CEO.
Puck debuted a series of podcasts hosted by its writers in September 2021. In March 2022, the outlet debuted a podcast co-created by Bill Simmons' The Ringer, which is owned by Spotify.
In August 2023, editor-in-chief Jon Kelly told Axios that the company raised over $10 million in Series B funding. Puck launched its first-ever live conference events in October 2023, holding an event with former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain at the Top of the Hay in Washington, D.C. Events with Netflix's Bela Bajaria and Goldman Sachs' David M. Solomon are scheduled for later in 2023.
Notable stories and coverage
Following FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's arrest, Bankman-Fried was interviewed by Puck during his house arrest. Puck has reported on Bankman-Fried's political aspirations prior to his arrest, reporting in September 2023 that he had intended to donate between $15 million to $30 million to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
In August 2023, Puck reported on a falling out between Canadian singer Justin Bieber and his longtime manager Scooter Braun. While both parties denied rumors that Bieber was searching for new management, Puck stood by its report. Outlets including Variety and Billboard went on to report on tensions between Bieber and Braun.
