- Joe Ricketts, a billionaire who has donated to Donald Trump and Republicans, shut down his network of local news websites without warning on Thursday.
- He shut down the publications after two of them attempted to unionize.
ADVERTISEMENT
A billionaire Trump donor just shut down a chain of beloved local publications without warning
Joe Ricketts, the billionaire owner of TD Ameritrade and major Republican donor, abruptly shut down the network of local publications he owned.
ADVERTISEMENT
Recommended articles
Joe Ricketts, the billionaire owner of TD Ameritrade and a major Republican donor, abruptly shut down the network of local publications he owned after two of them — Gothamist and DNAinfo — attempted to unionize.
In a letter on Thursday that populated the landing pages of the websites, Ricketts cited the financial burden the network of publications were under, saying that "progress hasn't been sufficient to support the tremendous effort and expense needed to produce the type of journalism on which the company was founded."
"DNAinfo is, at the end of the day, a business, and businesses need to be economically successful if they are to endure," Ricketts said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Gothamist, DNAinfo, Chicagoist, DNAinfo Chicago, DCist, and LAist, were all abruptly shut down, and the archives of years of posts were inaccessible as of Thursday evening.
Employees reacted in shock, learning about the termination of their sites in an email sent to staff around the same time Ricketts' letter was posted on the homepage of several sites.
The move came just a week after DNAinfo and Gothamist employees voted to unionize, which appeared to affect management's decision.
A spokesperson for DNAinfo told The New York Times that the "decision by the editorial team to unionize is simply another competitive obstacle making it harder for the business to be financially successful."
For its part, management had voiced its opposition to a union. DNAinfo's chief operating office said the union might be the "final straw that caused the business to close," while Ricketts himself penned a blog post titled "Why I'm Against Unions At Businesses I Create."
ADVERTISEMENT
The move immediately sparked criticism online.
Some observers argued that Ricketts, a deep-pocketed Republican donor who has thrown millions into political campaigns, was hypocritical for penny-pinching at relatively low-cost publications.
Others noted that Ricketts had not seemed as concerned about the rising costs when he bought Gothamist in early March.
FOLLOW BUSINESS INSIDER AFRICA
ADVERTISEMENT
Recommended articles
Best live dealer casino: Top USA live casinos online
Best real money online casinos USA: Top 10 casino sites in 2024
OPEC excited about partnership with Namibia
The US loses to Russia and China in popularity across Africa
Top 10 most valuable South African brands in 2024
Africa's giants play tug of war for the top economic spot
Morocco is making giant strides to become Africa's aviation manufacturing hub
Hackers test their ransomwares in less protected regions like Africa before striking richer nations: Report
