Business Insider has announced that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos has made a sizeable investment into the online financial publication. The website made the announcement this morning.
Business Insider CEO and Editor-in-Chief Henry Blodget sent a memo to the publication’s staff members. The memo indicated that between Bezos’ investment and the website’s current investors, it is raising $5 million.
The company said it plans to “invest aggressively in many areas of the business,” including an office expansion and the addition of staff and equipment.
Blodget said Bezos’ decision to invest came from a dinner the two of them had approximately one year ago. He said Bezos saw some parallels with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
In addition, Blodget said Bezo’s “vision, leadership and philosophy” at Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) have inspired him and other entrepreneurs. He said that Amazon’s focus has always been on its customers, and his own goal at Business Insider is also to take care of its customers — both readers and sponsors.
Business Insider has been around since 2007 when Blodget, along with Internet entrepreneur Kevin Ryan, started it. Blodget writes about four or five stories every day and spends a lot of time tweeting financial news. He also has an online video program, which he does for Yahoo! every day, and he’s frequently being interviewed on TV.
Business Insider hosts a number of conferences, like IGNITION, which focuses on digital media. The publication is also used as a source by a number of publications, including ValueWalk, National Public Radio and even The New York Times.
