How Business Insider was sold for $442 million

Allyson Shontell of Business Insider writes an insider story about how the business news website was sold earlier this fall to German company Axel Springer for $442 million.

Shontell writes, “For Axel Springer, a year or two wasn’t enough. The company wanted Blodget and Hansen to commit to a much longer timeframe. Springer also wanted Blodget and Hansen and the Business Insider team to remain motivated to make the company a big success.

“Blodget gave it a lot of thought and ultimately decided to make a major long-term commitment. But he told Döpfner he didn’t want to be contractually obligated to stay. He’d be sticking around because he wanted to keep developing Business Insider and seeing it grow, not because he had to.

“Blodget ended up exchanging a significant portion of his equity ownership in Business Insider — cash he might otherwise have taken out in a sale — for a future equity incentive that would vest over ten years. Blodget reportedly owned 10 to 15 percent of Business Insider at the time of the acquisition. When asked about his ownership percentage, Blodget declined to comment.

“With Blodget and Hansen’s continued employment assured, Business Insider’s board sent Ryan to work out the financial details of the sale with Döpfner.”

Read more here.