Why Nick Denton, Head Of Gawker, Is So Bad Ass
Posted by Timothy Sykes on Sat 10th of Jan, 2009 09:45:26 AM
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You don’t create a media empire, especially a blogging one by being a bitch…
Nick Denton has become one of the richest, most powerful people in media in less than a decade and this telling interview with Marketwatch offers some solid lessons for all tycoon-wannabes:
The bulletin that Viacom Inc., one of the biggest media companies in the world, had announced job cuts of about 7% prompted Denton to shake his head in disgust because companies were either failing to grasp the severity of the economic downturn or not taking deep enough steps.
“What the hell do they think they’re doing?” he told me when we talked Thursday in a corner of the Gawker headquarters, in the heart of New York’s fashionable SoHo neighborhood. “We were up 39% in the year to November — but even we are planning on a 40% decline in the ad market over the course of the cycle. Meanwhile, their answer to the worst downturn since the 1930s is a 7% cut. Frankly, it’s pathetic.”
Comparing Gawker Media’s prospects to the behemoths, Denton noted: “We’re more ruthless.”
I love it, Denton is focused on building his empire and profits, he doesn’t have time for bureaucratic half-measures.
And of course no interview would be complete without some great one-liners:
“Maybe we need to do some succession planning,” he joked, while insisting that “if I left, nothing (bad) would happen”
“You can’t buy that kind of publicity,” when a celebrity like actor George Clooney or talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel gets riled up about the popular Gawker Stalker feature (in which Gawker.com publishes readers’ reports of spotting famous people on New York City streets).
“Forget about the writing — the most important thing we do is creative services,” in which Gawker Media helps agencies produce glossy advertisements.
He considered launching a “gay site,” but decided against the idea because he “didn’t think it would be that big.”
Yes, he’s known far and wide to be a jerk, but he seems to be okay with that because he’s on a mission…man oh man, I love this guy!
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