Marc Lasry, the billionaire investor, has stepped down as chair of Ozy Media after solely three weeks inside the operate, deepening the catastrophe on the digital media agency.
The online media enterprise has come beneath fireside after a report in The New York Events questioned its viewers figures and revealed that thought of one among its founders had impersonated a YouTube govt on a conference identify with Goldman Sachs all through a fundraising course of. Ozy appointed regulation company Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to evaluation its enterprise practices this week.
Lasry, who co-founded the hedge fund Avenue Capital and is the co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball group, invested in Ozy and joined the board following a $35m funding spherical in 2019, the company said on the time.
He was appointed Ozy’s chair earlier this month, having talked about that he hoped to develop its investor base and lead a model new part of improvement for the eight-year-old agency.
Nonetheless in an announcement on Thursday, Lasry talked about: “I contemplate that going forward Ozy requires experience in areas like catastrophe administration and investigations, the place I don’t want particular expertise. For that motive, I’ve stepped down from the company’s board. I keep an investor inside the agency and need it the best going forward.”
Lasry’s exit follows the resignation of former BBC journalist Katty Kay, thought of one among its star hires, who talked about the allegations made by The New York Events have been “extreme and deeply troubling”.
Ozy’s completely different merchants embody the German author Axel Springer, SuRo Capital and Emerson Collective, the organisation led by Laurene Powell Jobs. The company has raised larger than $80m since its founding, in response to PitchBook info.
On Tuesday the enterprise company SV Angel surrendered its shares inside the agency after having invested in a seed spherical in 2012, talked about one explicit individual briefed on the selection. SV Angel and its founder Ron Conway declined to comment.
The New York Events reported this week that Samir Rao, co-founder of the company and its chief working officer, had impersonated a YouTube govt on a conference identify with Goldman Sachs, which was a doable investor.
Ozy has confirmed the incident occurred, saying it was the outcomes of a psychological nicely being episode. The board requested Rao to take a depart of absence pending the outcomes of the regulation company’s investigation.
Carlos Watson, chief govt, co-founder and most people face of Ozy, earlier this week launched an announcement which included a quote from Lasry confirming that the board had been made acutely aware of the Goldman Sachs identify and supported the best way during which it was handled. “The incident was an unfortunate one-time event,” Lasry talked about inside the memo.
Lasry is most interesting generally called co-owner of the Bucks basketball franchise, which he bought with the non-public equity investor Wes Edens in 2014. This 12 months the Bucks won their first NBA championship in half a century, led by two-time league most revered participant Giannis Antetokounmpo.
https://www.ft.com/content material materials/3d8490fd-9cc8-4f26-8bcf-7752f5beb136 | Investor Marc Lasry quits Ozy Media board
