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Binance is taking a $200M stake in Forbes
- coding123 5y agoCrypto is buying good news now.
- skilled 5y ago> Forbes > Good news pick one.
- ceejayoz 5y agoIt doesn't have to be good for a whole bunch of people to assume it's good because it's a previously reputable(ish) physical magazine people have heard of. Their contributor network thing exists primarily because of the value of the branding confusion.
- vehemenz 5y agoI think parent meant buying "good news", as in positive PR, not buying "good" "news".
- chomp 5y agoI think GP meant "good news" as in, publicity.
- htrp 5y agoPR move
- fbn79 5y agoList of Forbes scams https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/02/an-incomplete-history-of-forbes-com-as-a-platform-for-scams-grift-and-bad-journalism/ https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/02/an-incomplete-history-of-f...
- mgh2 5y agoPrevious discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30281041 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30281041
- mylons 5y agothe 30 under 30, tho
- osrec 5y agoI know of people who have paid to get on that list. That cheapened it for me, and made me see it for what it was... What was more alarming was that it wasn't even that much money (around 5k USD, I believe).
- kilroy123 5y agoSo how do you do it?
- bsilvereagle 5y agoI can’t make any claims to the accuracy of this piece, but found it an interesting read after a colleague of mine was on the list: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-get-forbes-30-under-honest-thorough-guide-christina-qi-caia/ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-get-forbes-30-under-hones...
- asadlionpk 5y agoHire a PR firm to do it for you.
- notfromhere 5y agoSo many of the people there haven’t really done much either. It’s hard to do anything meaningful career-wise before 30.
- osrec 5y ago
- mgh2 5y agoIt makes sense, propaganda to drive crypto scams
- loceng 5y agoIs there a term already coined that's in line with "regulatory capture" [of government and policies by for-profit industrial complexes lobbying to help insert politicians favourable of or inattentive to their industry] but for "brand capture" or "trust/reputation capture" or similar?
- jaywalk 5y agoThere'd have to be existing trust/reputation in order for it to be captured, and in the case of Forbes there isn't any.
- api 5y agoNot among people who know something about business or finance, but in the general public the name is still associated with "rich people stuff." Sort of like the Trump brand...
- ATsch 5y agoEven better, there's one specifically for the corporate capture of journalism: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_model https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_model
- arcticbull 5y agoI think this is closer to reputation laundering.
- mythrwy 5y agoThen accuse non mainstream sources of "misinformation" when they try to expose the crypto scams. Fact Check: "No, Bitcoin is not a Ponzi scheme and is actually good for the environment!"
- mrkramer 5y agoThat's smart move by Forbes. Soon FBI might take 100% stake in Binance.
- ElonMuskrat 5y agoI genuinely laughed. It seems like after every media, government, celebrity and politician, who can be bought, has been bought, and every sucker pilfered, then this thing will finally come to its horrible end. I did not think I would experience a bubble that rivals the Dot Com or Mississippi bubbles. But here we are.
- BitwiseFool 5y agoI have a reflexive aversion to reading anything from Forbes. I absolutely hated that "Forbes Welcome" page and it was so difficult to get around in the past.
- bmarquez 5y agoSame here, but I feel like Forbes' reputation is at the point where it might actually be improved by Binance's influence.
- boringg 5y agoForbes is about as a good as business insider. They are really bad journalism. Forbes is only known for its list of wealthy people which is not something I would want to hang my hat on.
- weego 5y ago"Binance today has announced that that it knows lobbying has to happen in public opinion as well as back-room deal making"
- arcticbull 5y agoThis has big "Bernie Madoff when he was chairman of the NASDAQ" vibes. [1] [edit] For those following along at home, Binance was kicked out of - or saw significant regulatory pressure in - the UK, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Germany, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Africa, Thailand, Ontario, Uganda, Malta ... and I think a few others? They're also under investigation by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. [2, 3] I am legitimately impressed, it's not easy to get the attention of regulators in the Caymans. It seems Forbes was hot on their tail a while back when they wanted to create strategic bait-and-switch entities in various jurisdictions including the US ("Tai Chi Document"). [4] Binance then sued them for defamation - then voluntarily dropped the suit. I suspect such investigations will no longer be welcome. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Madoff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Madoff [2] https://www.cima.ky/binance-not-regulated-by-cima https://www.cima.ky/binance-not-regulated-by-cima [3] https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/110358/cayman-islands-investigate-crypto-exchange-binance https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/110358/cayman-islands-in... [4] https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/10/29/leaked-tai-chi-document-reveals-binances-elaborate-scheme-to-evade-bitcoin-regulators/?sh=7a8ce81f2a92 https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/10/29/l...
- seibelj 5y agoEvery major news outlet gets purchased by some rich entity. WaPo by Bezos, Boston Globe by John Henry, Rupert Murdoch with WSJ... this is why it doesn't really matter if they are money-losing operations. Their value for pushing narrative vastly exceeds their P&L
- arcticbull 5y agoI do agree, but this is particularly egregious. Like "Al Capone takes 20% stake in Chicago Tribune" egregious. Did they not notice the Sicilians when they were negotiating or...
- trimbo 5y agoMurdoch actually made his money in media. What makes you think the WSJ would be money-losing?
- lquist 5y agoSeems like an especially smart investment. Tycoons purchasing storied media assets usually have to contend with journalistic integrity when trying to push their agenda. Binance will not have any such challenges with Forbes.
- ilamont 5y agoReminded me of Pando, started by a former TechCrunch editor 10 years ago. At the top of the Pando investor: Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel. https://gigaom.com/2012/01/16/sarah-lacys-pandodaily-launches-with-2-5-million-in-funding/ https://gigaom.com/2012/01/16/sarah-lacys-pandodaily-launche... https://allthingsd.com/20120116/sarah-lacy-debuts-new-tech-site-pandodaily-and-guess-whos-working-for-her-video/ https://allthingsd.com/20120116/sarah-lacy-debuts-new-tech-s... It didn't last.
- rafale 5y agoI have no idea where Forbes reputation comes from. Is it because they were the first to track the richest 100 people? Big brand name, little backing afaik.
- notfromhere 5y agoForbes used to have a lot of brand appeal, but I don’t honestly know anyone who still takes them seriously. I feel like their contributor program really killed the brand for anyone under 40
- listenallyall 5y agoLike Time or Sports Illustrated or Newsweek, it was a highly-respected, widely-read magazine for decades. And it was led by Malcolm Forbes, who was a minor celebrity for being wealthy, sort of like Richard Branson.
- rchaud 5y agoIt used to be a proper business magazine, alongside Fortune, Barrons and BusinessWeek. At some point in the last 15 years it opened up a "contributor" program, which killed its reputation. As far as I know, there is still a Forbes print mag with editorial staff, but considering how few people subscribe to magazines now, their reputation rests almost entirely on the quality of the free contributor articles. Most of which are written by content marketers looking to build their brand.
- capableweb 5y ago> Most of which are written by content marketers looking to build their brand. Or content marketers/founders/cryptocurrency hackers like Heather Morgan (https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2022/02/08/feds-seize-36-billion-in-stolen-bitcoin-arrest-couple-five-years-after-massive-crypto-exchange-hack/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2022/02/08/fed...) > Heather Morgan was a ForbesWomen contributor from July 2017 until Forbes ended the relationship in September 2021, and was never an employee.
- pessimizer 5y ago
- riccardomc 5y agoFrankly, this is a genius move to wash crypto propaganda in a somewhat reputable aura... It worries me that it is actually going to work. A news source these days doesn't need to be accurate. It is sufficient to be well-known.
- excitednumber 5y agocant make this shit up. wow.
- lifeplusplus 5y agono news is bad news to crypto cultists: crypto exchange reaches new volume = "they are very smart, true geniuses" fbi dismantles the same exchange = "great it helps crypto ecosystem and weans out fraud" country of billions of people bans crypto = "this is what crypto was built for" crypto prices skyrocket = "common people are getting into crypto" crypto prices crash = "great once in a lifetime opportunity, not a financial advice"
- Guest42 5y agoCrypto is constantly advertised as is. Incrementally, I can’t see a 200m investment paying off. With interest rates rising, speculative investment is going to drop significantly.
- rchaud 5y agoMaybe they offered them a bonus, payable entirely in Binance USD stablecoin.
- ignoramous 5y agoYou joke, but stablecoins are well on their way to sustaining crypto-currencies and mainstreaming its adoption.
- pessimizer 5y agoI think Forbes makes money, so the 200m didn't go anywhere.
- ozten 5y agoThe video is worth watching. It seems like the Binance CEO is caught unprepared by the Heather Morgan question.
- woah 5y agoI'm very concerned that Forbes' role as a bastion of journalistic integrity is under threat
- faeyanpiraat 5y ago/s?
- boringg 5y agoOP comment has to be sarcasm. No other way to read it.
- ChicagoBoy11 5y agoI feel like for them that ship has largely sailed a while ago, sadly. I have a friend of mine who was included in their 30 under 30 list and knowing a bit about that process alone has generally made me really averse to anything else they put out.
- Animats 5y agoDid they pay in Tether?
- schmeckleberg 5y agofundus are safu
- boringg 5y agoHow bad of shape is Forbes in to take that money? I mean let's be real, Forbes is a pretty terrible outfit to begin with, this just solidifies it.
- krnlpnc 5y agoBased on this comments section, all crypto is scams. Compared to what? Aren't we talking about the finance sector here? It's all a scam, some currencies and markets just have more laws already written than others.
- BrissyCoder 5y agoI'm sure xk of seeing this take. If you buy a stock (even Tesla!) There's generally an actual profit making company producing things behind it.
- krnlpnc 5y agoWhat's the difference between the profits that e.g. Meta earns vs profits that Binanace earns?
- cranberryturkey 5y agoweb3.0 is going to suck just like web 2.0 sucked.
- voakbasda 5y agoI think it will suck even worse.
- rasz 5y ago$400mil? they print that out of thin air in a single day.
- qualudeheart 5y agoThis feels like a see change. A stake in as reputable a medium as Forbes?
- posterboy 5y ago> [sea] change FTFY, your native tongue was shining through