Ozy Media announced it's shutting down after a New York Times report shed light on its business practices.
Founded in 2013, Ozy had raised $83 million as of 2020 from well-known names like Marc Lasry, Laurene Powell Jobs, and Ron Conway. Insider owner Axel Springer is also a backer.
Its rapid unraveling wasn't a surprise to current and former employees, who expressed doubts about the company and described a breakneck workplace culture.
For years, Ozy alumni told Insider, Chief Executive Officer Carlos Watson and fellow cofounder Samir Rao cultivated an aggressive focus on winning and a culture built upon a Silicon Valley start-up ethos rather than a journalistic one.
Employees were expected to be at their desks and available around the clock after hours, churn out content, and work 80-hour weeks.
While Ozy publicly touted impressive viewership numbers, staffers inside the company expressed skepticism the true size of their audience.