Ramaswamy Plays BuzzFeed For Attention

Vivek Ramaswamy was obviously missing the adrenaline rush of being in the headlines. His faux-activist plunge into BuzzFeed stock has cost him less than $5 million and has already paid dividends in more free press than he’s had since he dropped out of the Republican presidential race in January. But let’s not mistake this for an activist play. BuzzFeed is controlled by founder-CEO Jonah Peretti through his supervoting stock. Ramaswamy is smart enough to realize this. He can’t “win” a vote even if he was inclined to push it that far.

Instead, his purchase of an 8% stake in BuzzFeed and accompanying call for an ideological (and financial) shakeup in the company’s strategy should be seen as Ramaswamy’s way of reminding Trumpers that he is on their side ahead of the Republican convention where the vice-presidential candidate will be picked. That’s a role he surely wants. Ramaswamy is so conscious of the convention that he selected July 15, the opening day of the event, as the date by which the board should act on his suggestion to add three members he suggested. It has to be said that, as a way of getting attention, making this investment already looks to be a very smart move.