Farewell to 'Insider': Henry Blodget Exits CEO Role, 'Business Insider' Returns

Business Insider announced on Tuesday it will be parting ways with its long-time CEO Henry Blodget.

The company also said that it would be reverting to its old "Business Insider" brand name, ditching the shorter "Insider" it adopted in 2021. 

Barbara Peng will take over as CEO. Peng has served as the president for the company since 2021. The statement said that Blodget will become the board chair.

Quoted: “Barbara is one of the most talented and effective executives I have ever worked with,” Blodget said. “In the face of challenges, Barbara has shown a remarkable ability to maintain clear focus on the long-term while building a strong team and developing a smart strategy that will strongly position Business Insider for the years ahead.”

The History: Blodget co-founded Business Insider in 2007 with Kevin Ryan and Dwight Merriman, consolidating industry vertical blogs such as “Silicon Valley Insider.” The site continued to grow and in 2015, Axel Springer SE purchased Business Insider and laid off a large portion of its staff. 

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Blodget was able to remain the CEO through the company’s transformation and oversaw the outlet through its name change in 2021. Now, Business Insider’s website has already ditched the “Insider” moniker and is back to displaying its Business Insider logo. 

Cause For Celebration? At least one person was thrilled to see Blodget ousted from the CEO position. Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who has a longstanding, less-than-friendly rivalry with Blodget, posted a video on X drinking champagne and smoking a cigar in celebration of the news.

Portnoy’s video was viewed more than 2 million times as of Tuesday afternoon. 

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Photo: Henry Blodget at Web Summit via Flickr Creative Commons