The New York Times is buying The Wirecutter, a five-year-old online consumer guide.
The New York Times is buying The Wirecutter for more than $30 million
Brian Lam sells his online consumer guide to the paper of record.
Peter Kafka covered media and technology, and their intersection, at Vox. Many of his stories can be found in his Kafka on Media newsletter, and he also hosts the Recode Media podcast.
The Times will pay more than $30 million, including retention bonuses and other payouts, for the startup, according to people familiar with the transaction.
Brian Lam, a former editor at Gawker Media’s Gizmodo, founded The Wirecutter in 2011, and has self-funded the company’s growth.
The Wirecutter provides recommendations for electronics and other gadgets that are both obsessively researched and simply presented. The Wirecutter also owns The Sweethome, which takes the same approach for home appliances and other gear.
Both sites make their money via affiliate links, which generate revenue when consumers click on them and make purchases via e-commerce sites like Amazon.
Digital publishers have become increasingly interested in that approach, as digital advertising revenue becomes more difficult to find. The Times itself saw digital ad dollars drop 7 percent last quarter, citing “declines in traditional web display” ads.
I’ve asked both Lam and the Times for comment.
UPDATE: Here comment from The Wirecutter, via Twitter, with a link to the Times’ press release:
I spoke with Lam about how he built his business, and whether he wanted to sell it, on Recode Media in June:
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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