Former Disney Exec Ben Sherwood, Joanna Coles To Run The Daily Beast In Strategic Partnership With Barry Diller’s IAC

Jill Goldsmith
·2 min read
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IAC, the Barry Diller-owned company that controls The Daily Beast, has landed a strategic partnership with former Disney executive Ben Sherwood and Hearst veteran Joanna Coles to define the digital publication’s next chapter in a struggling media climate.

Effective immediately, Sherwood will serve as publisher and CEO and Coles as chief creative and content officer. As strategic partners, both will share a substantial interest in the company but specific terms of the partnership were not disclosed.

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“These are tough times for digital journalism, but the combined experience, expertise and energy of Ben and Joanna have made me an optimist about their ability to make The Beast an enduring and successful enterprise,” said Barry Diller, who is IAC’s chairman and senior executive.

“Timing is everything, and the current media hellstorm feels like the ideal moment to jump back into journalism,” said Sherwood, who formerly served as co-chairman of the Disney Media Networks and president of the Disney ABC Television Group, overseeing the company’s global entertainment, news and cable properties. He also worked as president of ABC News, executive producer of Good Morning America and senior broadcast producer of NBC Nightly News. More recently, he founded sports technology startup MOJO, which was sold to TeamSnap in December of 2023.

“Everything feels upside down right now with busted business models and transformative technology. With so much disruption — or maybe because of it — we believe this is the ideal entrepreneurial opportunity to deliver on The Beast’s insurgent promise. We are excited to work with the dynamic team at The Beast, cultivate and recruit great talent, and help unleash its populist potential.”

The Daily Beast launched in 2008 under founding editor Tina Brown, whose “original vision of The Beast as a sophisticated tabloid is even more relevant today,” said Coles. “Our pirate mission is to cover the stories and people that grab us and have fun along the way. Yes, these are serious times and we will track the conflict flaring in the Middle East, but our arrival at The Beast also coincides with the opening of the Trial of the Century and so you can expect all out coverage at the courthouse with our Senior Where-is-Melania Reporter and our Chief Hope Hicks Correspondent.” The publication also has a Chief Fruit and Vegetable Correspondent, who is moving to Montecito.

Coles moved from the UK to the U.S. as The Guardian’s bureau chief in New York, then editor-in-chief of Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan before serving as chief content officer for Hearst Magazines, overseeing 300 titles globally. She executive produced The Bold Type and serves on the boards of Snap and Sonos and the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation. At Snap, she helped build Snapchat’s Discover platform.

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