Forbes has announced that Binance, “one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency and blockchain infrastructure providers,” is making a $200 million investment to own part of an “iconic business intelligence brand.” That money is part of a $400 million Public Private Equity Investment (PIPE) deal set up for Forbes to go public through a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC).
The deal marks an interesting milestone that shows how the Web3 companies have achieved their "let's buy a media company" moment, just like Time Warner and AOL or AT&T and Time Warner or Verizon and AOL or... you get the point.
But that deal also binds Binance to Forbes, the media company that sued it for defamation in 2020, claiming it suffered millions of dollars in losses over an article that suggested Binance's "sophisticated corporate structure" was "designed to deliberately mislead to regulators and make secret profits. of crypto investors in the United States.” Binance withdrew this lawsuit early last year, and the article remains available on Forbes.com. the company said at the time.
Forbes also hosts a series of articles from Razzlekhan, aka The Wall Street Crocodile, aka Heather Morgan, who was arrested this week with her husband and charged by the Justice Department with attempting to steal 3, $6 thousand laundering millions stolen from Bitfinex. .
Binance's press release doesn't speak subtly about why it might invest in the media company: CEO Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao suggests it's about buying influence, saying, "As Web3 and blockchain technologies evolve and the market of crypto comes of age, we know that the media is an essential element in building broad consumer understanding and education.”
Asked directly about investing in light of Morgan's recent arrest during a separate interview with CNBC, Zhao hesitated a bit before explaining that "not all media outlets are open to investing," while noting that the brand , Forbes' influence and reputation are very strong. strong enough to offset the impact of "a contributing author who happens to be a hacker on her hidden life".
