102 lines
6.3 KiB
Markdown
102 lines
6.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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category: "Private Organization"
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tags:
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- Organization
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- Media
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- Journalism
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- FTX
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- SamBankmanFried
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summary: "News company launched October 18, 2022 by Ben Smith and Justin Smith with 25 million dollars from investors including Sam Bankman-Fried, whose roughly 10 million dollars it repurchased in 2023 for FTX creditors."
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start: 2022
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location: "New York City, New York, USA"
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relations:
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- type: founded
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with: "[[Ben Smith]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2022
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fn: 1
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- type: founded
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with: "[[Justin Smith]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2022
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fn: 1
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Sam Bankman-Fried]]"
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reverse: true
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role: "about 10 million dollars, repurchased 2023"
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start: 2022
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end: 2023
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fn: 3
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Jorge Paulo Lemann]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2022
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fn: 1
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- type: funded
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with: "[[David Bradley]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2022
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fn: 1
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Jessica Lessin]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2022
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fn: 1
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- type: funded
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with: "[[John Thornton]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2022
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fn: 1
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Stand Together]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2023
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fn: 3
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Henry Kravis]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2023
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fn: 3
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Jerry Yang]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2023
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fn: 3
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Jamal Daniel]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2023
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fn: 3
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Gallup]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2023
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fn: 3
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created: 2026-09-23
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updated: 2026-09-23
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---
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Semafor is a news company founded by [[Justin Smith]], former chief executive of [[Bloomberg Media]], and [[Ben Smith]], former editor-in-chief of [[BuzzFeed News]] and columnist at the *[[New York Times]]*; the two are not related. It launched on October 18, 2022 with a staff of 60 and 25 million dollars in private capital.[^1]
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### Launch investors
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The first round came from the [[Atlantic Media|Atlantic]] chairman emeritus [[David Bradley]], [[The Information]] founder [[Jessica Lessin]], [[John Thornton]], founder of the [[American Journalism Project]], [[Sam Bankman-Fried]], founder of [[FTX]], and [[3G Capital]] co-founder [[Jorge Paulo Lemann]], as well as Justin Smith. [[Gina Chua]] was executive editor, [[Benjy Sarlin]] Washington bureau chief, [[Liz Hoffman]] business editor, [[Reed Albergotti]] technology editor and [[Steve Clemons]] editor at large. Justin Smith said the name meant "the bearer of a signal" and was "the same word in 35 different languages."[^1]
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### Bankman-Fried stake
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After the collapse of FTX, Justin Smith wrote to staff on December 2, 2022 that the company had "set up a series of firewalls to ensure independence from our investors" and that Bankman-Fried "has no influence over our editorial coverage or operations"; Semafor said it would let "government investigations determine what happens with Bankman-Fried's investment."[^2] On May 24, 2023 Semafor announced a 19-million-dollar round, bringing its total raised to 34 million dollars after "the repurchase of the approximately $10 million in funds from Sam Bankman-Fried," which Semafor said would be "returned to FTX creditors as directed by officials." The new investors were [[Gallup]]; [[Henry Kravis]], co-founder of [[KKR]]; [[Jamal Daniel]], founder of Crest Media and owner of [[Al-Monitor]]; [[Jerry Yang]] of [[Yahoo]] and AME Cloud Ventures; Lemann again; and [[Stand Together]], the philanthropic network founded by [[Charles Koch]].[^3]
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### Coverage of effective altruism and technology
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On December 7, 2025 Semafor's media reporter [[Max Tani]] reported that the [[Tarbell Center for AI Journalism]], mostly funded by [[Open Philanthropy]] as Coefficient Giving, had placed fellows at *[[Time]]*, [[Bloomberg]], *[[The Verge]]*, the *[[Los Angeles Times]]* and *The Information*, and that Semafor itself had briefly hosted a fellow, ending the agreement "after several weeks without publishing any of their work." Coefficient's communications director, [[Naina Bajekal]], said: "We have no involvement in coverage decisions."[^4] Semafor has also reported on [[Jaan Tallinn]]'s AI investments and donations (April 2023), a lawsuit against [[Charles C. Johnson]] (October 2024) and a private club founded by [[Peter Thiel]] and [[Auren Hoffman]] (August 2025).[^5][^6][^7] On September 3, 2026 Ben Smith published an interview with Coefficient Giving's chief executive, [[Alexander Berger]].[^8]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Johnson, Ted. "Semafor Launches With Aim Of Boosting Trust In Global News Amid A Busy Digital Marketplace." *Deadline,* October 18, 2022. http://web.archive.org/web/20250210093253/https://deadline.com/2022/10/semafor-ben-smith-justin-smith-1235147535/
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[^2]: "Semafor Puts Its Sam Bankman-Fried Investment in the Feds' Hands." *The Daily Beast,* December 2, 2022. https://www.thedailybeast.com/semafor-puts-its-sam-bankman-fried-investment-in-the-feds-hands/
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[^3]: Spangler, Todd. "Semafor Banks $19 Million in New Funding as News Startup Is Set to Relinquish $10 Million Investment From Sam Bankman-Fried." *Variety,* May 24, 2023. http://web.archive.org/web/20230601031949/https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/semafor-funding-ben-smith-justin-smith-1235623955/
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[^4]: Tani, Max. "AI critics funded AI coverage at top newsrooms." *Semafor,* December 7, 2025. https://www.semafor.com/article/12/07/2025/ai-critics-funded-ai-coverage-at-top-newsrooms
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[^5]: "Co-founder of Skype invested in hot AI startups but thinks he failed." *Semafor,* April 28, 2023. https://www.semafor.com/article/04/28/2023/co-founder-of-skype-invested-in-hot-ai-startups-but-thinks-he-failed
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[^6]: "Business Partner Sues Chuck Johnson for Falsely Presenting as Intelligence Agent." *Semafor,* October 16, 2024. https://www.semafor.com/article/10/16/2024/business-partner-sues-chuck-johnson-for-falsely-presenting-as-intelligence-agent
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[^7]: "Private club founded by Peter Thiel, Auren Hoffman eyes campus near DC." *Semafor,* August 8, 2025. https://www.semafor.com/article/08/08/2025/private-club-founded-by-peter-thiel-auren-hoffman-eyes-campus-near-dc
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[^8]: Smith, Ben. "Coefficient Giving's CEO on Silicon Valley's $40 billion philanthropy boom." *Semafor,* September 3, 2026. https://www.semafor.com/article/09/03/2026/coefficient-givings-ceo-on-silicon-valley-40-billion-philanthropy-boom
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