Reuters
- Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg told employees to listen to the song “Get Back Up Again” from the movie “Trolls” to help lift their spirits amid the company’s shutdown, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
- Employees were told Wednesday that they would be laid off and would receive a severance as the company shuts down, the Journal reported.
- Quibi announced Wednesday that it was shutting down just six months after launch. The company, which raised $1.75 billion from investors ahead of its launch, failed to attract viewers.
- In an open letter published Wednesday, Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman said Quibi’s failure was likely due to the core of the idea as well as the coronavirus pandemic.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg told employees Wednesday to listen to a song from the movie “Trolls” to help lift their spirits amid the company’s shutdown.
That’s according to a report from The Wall Street Journal’s Benjamin Mullin, Joe Flint, and Maureen Farrell, who reported on a call Katzenberg held with employees on Wednesday to discuss the shut-down of the company. People familiar with the matter told the Journal that employees will be laid off and paid a severance.
According to the Journal, during the call, Katzenberg advised employees to listen to the song “Get Back Up Again,” which is performed by actress Anna Kendrick and is on the soundtrack of the 2016 animated film “Trolls.”
A spokesperson for Quibi did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment on the call.
Quibi’s goal was to create short-form shows that were specially formatted for smartphones and could be watched on the go. The streaming service raised $1.75 billion from investors like Walmart, PepsiCo, and Anheuser-Busch ahead of its launch in April, but failed to attract viewers. The company announced Wednesday that it’s shutting down just six months after launch.
In an open letter to investors, employees, and supporters, Katzenberg and Quibi CEO Meg Whitman acknowledged the challenges Quibi has faced, saying the company isn't succeeding because of the coronavirus pandemic and because "the idea itself wasn't strong enough to justify a standalone streaming service."
"We have reluctantly come to the difficult decision to wind down the business, return cash to our shareholders, and say goodbye to our colleagues with grace," Katzenberg and Whitman wrote. "We want you to know we did not give up on this idea without a fight."
Katzenberg told investors on Wednesday that Quibi will return $350 million in capital to its investors rather than try to keep the company afloat, the Journal reported. In the letter, Katzenberg and Whitman wrote that in the coming months, they'll look to find buyers for Quibi's original content and its underlying technology platform.