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Chris Richmond (entrepreneur)

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Chris Richmond
Born
Christopher Richmond

(1986-07-29) July 29, 1986 (age 38)
Oakland, California,[1] U.S.
Occupations

Chris Richmond (born July 29, 1986) is an American businessman and entrepreneur.[2] He founded a television streaming site called ShareTV.com, co-founded an adtech platform called Proper Media and acquired websites such as TV Tropes, Snopes, and Salon.com.[3][4]

Career

[edit]

Richmond founded his first large website in 2007, called ShareTV.com.[5] This became one of the first online distribution partners of HULU and TheWB,[6] and was one of first sites to stream the Oscars online.[6]

In 2014, Richmond, along with his business partner Drew Schoentrup, acquired TV Tropes, a wiki geared toward fiction writers.[7] To announce the purchase, Richmond and Schoentrup launched a Kickstarter campaign to ask the members for their help in improving the project. The campaign raised more than $100,000 in donations.[8]

In 2015, Richmond co-founded an adtech platform called Proper Media. Its first official client was Snopes.com, the largest and oldest fact-checking website on the web.[9] After a year, Proper Media purchased[10] a significant stake in Snopes.com. There was a legal dispute[11] regarding whether Proper Media purchased 50% or 40% of Snopes.com. The dispute started in 2017 and continued until 2022, when Richmond and Schoentrup bought out all other shareholders of Snopes.[12][13]

In 2018, Richmond helped with his 3rd acquisition by acquiring Spoutable.com under Proper Media.[14] This acquisition added eight employees and nearly doubled the reach of Proper Media.[15]

In 2019, Richmond and his business partner completed the acquisition of Salon.com for $5 million from Salon Media Group (OTCQB: SLNM).[16]

In 2021, after 6 years of year over year growth with Richmond as CEO, Proper Media was sold to Sovrn Holdings. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.[17]

In 2022, Richmond took over as CEO of Snopes after completing the transaction with Schoentrup to buy out the other shareholders.[13][18]

In 2023, Richmond and Schoentrup sold Salon.com for an undisclosed sum. Salon was nearing bankruptcy two decades on, when they bought it, in 2019, for $5 million. Nobody was laid off from the newsroom under Richmond and Schoentrup’s tenure.[19]

Cybersquatting case

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Richmond started out at ShareTV.org and was completely unable to obtain the commercial equivalent, ShareTV.com, from a cybersquatter. In 2013, Richmond won a lawsuit for ShareTV.com against the cybersquatter, despite the fact that they owned the domain seven years before ShareTV began its trademark.[20]

Snopes.com lawsuit

[edit]

As of 2016, Richmond was engaged in a lawsuit against Snopes over whether he and Drew Schoentrup own 50% or 40% of Snopes.[21][22] As a result of this dispute, ad revenue was withheld from Snopes.com and its founder David Mikkelson launched a GoFundMe campaign to keep Snopes.com running.[23]

References

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  1. ^ Dorset, Catlin (July 29, 2015). "30(ish) Under 30(ish)". San Diego Union Tribune. Pacific San Diego. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  2. ^ Weiner, Yitzi (February 15, 2018). "How I Hacked HULU to get Warner Brothers to Call, With Chris Richmond". Medium. Thrive Global.
  3. ^ Madrigal, Alexis C. (July 24, 2017). "Snopes Faces an Ugly Legal Battle". The Atlantic.
  4. ^ Funke, Daniel (March 20, 2018). "Snopes has its site back. But the legal battle over its ownership will drag on for months". Poynter. Poynter Institute.
  5. ^ "About Us – ShareTV". sharetv.com. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (February 24, 2013). "Oscar Telecast To Be Available Online For The First Time". Deadline. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  7. ^ Sterling, Bruce. "TV Tropes, the all-devouring pop-culture wiki". WIRED. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  8. ^ "The TV Tropes Revitalization Project". Kickstarter. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  9. ^ Waddell, Kaveh. "Should Facebook Buy Snopes?". The Atlantic. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  10. ^ "For Fact-Checking Website Snopes, a Bigger Role Brings More Attacks". The New York Times. December 25, 2016. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  11. ^ "Snopes, the internet's foremost fact-checking website, may die in a messy legal battle". Vox. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  12. ^ "Disclosures". snopes.com. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Snopes Co-Owners Acquire All Remaining Shares of the Company, Bringing Total Stake to 100%". www.yahoo.com. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  14. ^ Bigelow, Bruce (March 12, 2018). "Xconomy: Proper Media Acquires Spoutable, Last Piece of Venture Studio". Xconomy.
  15. ^ Media, Proper (February 27, 2018). "Proper Media Acquires Spoutable.com". www.prnewswire.com. Proper Media. PRNewswire.
  16. ^ "slnm20190905_8k.htm". www.sec.gov. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  17. ^ "Publisher-Focused Tech Startup Sovrn Acquires Proper Media | Built In Colorado". www.builtincolorado.com. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  18. ^ "Inside Snopes: the rise, fall, and rebirth of an internet icon". www.fastcompany.com. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  19. ^ Tattoli, Chantel (November 8, 2023). "Online news pioneer 'Salon' is sold for an undisclosed sum (exclusive)". FastCompany. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  20. ^ "Troubling: Federal Court Gives ShareTv.com To ShareTv.Org Despite.Com Registered 3 Years Earlier & 7 Years Before TM". TheDomains.com. November 13, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  21. ^ Bruno, Bianca (May 10, 2017). "Fact-Checker Snopes' Owners Accused of Corporate Subterfuge". Courthouse News Service.
  22. ^ "Snopes, in Heated Legal Battle, Asks Readers for Money to Survive". The New York Times. July 24, 2017. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  23. ^ "Snopes and the Search for Facts in a Post-Fact World". WIRED. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
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