Daily Wire Selling to Fox News Brett Cooper Mystery Quit Deepens

The Daily Wire is looking to possibly partner with a larger company or raise a significant round of capital next year to meet its growth ambitions, its co-CEO Jeremy Boreing told Axios.

Why it matters: The company’s commercial success has caught the attention of investors and potential buyers looking to gain a foothold in the younger conservative culture.

Semafor reported Sunday that Fox Corp. was eyeing potential acquisitions of conservative podcast companies, including Daily Wire. 

Between the lines: Asked about a deal with Fox, Boreing said the company isn’t actively looking for a buyer, but “we’re not closed off to an offer.”

"It's easy to imagine a strategic partnership with Fox or someone like Fox, that could be mutually beneficial. I think that we complement Fox and don't compete with Fox," he added, noting Daily Wire's audience is primarily younger and more coastal urban. 

By the numbers: The Nashville-based company, which is on track to surpass $200 million in revenue this year, would come with a hefty price tag.

Daily Wire raised an undisclosed round of capital in 2023 at a valuation well north of $1 billion, a source told Axios.
The firm was initially funded by Republican fracking billionaire Farris Wilks, but until its latest raise, it relied mostly on its profits to fuel its growth. 

Zoom in: In addition to subscriptions, the firm makes money from advertising and e-commerce.

Earlier this year, its star podcaster and co-founder Ben Shapiro testified on Capitol Hill as part of a broader fight to get ad agencies not to dismiss conservative media. Boreing said conversations with Fortune 500 advertisers have "opened up enormously" since.
The company made more than $22 million on commerce sales in 2023. This year, it will make more than $20 million on its Jeremy's Razors business alone, Boreing said. Mayflower Cigars, its cigar startup, has grossed $4.2 million in sales since it launched last November.

The big picture: Like many modern media companies, The Daily Wire has started to pivot its focus away from social media and more toward its owned and operated channels.

"The big strategic change for us is that we think a big part of the future now is in actually becoming a destination," Boreing said. "What we want to do over the next three years is really grow the percentage of the audience that engages with our content on our platform."

For many years, Daily Wire was the top publisher on Facebook. It used that audience to build narrower subscription products.
The company's streaming service, Daily Wire+, has well over 1 million subscribers, Boreing said. This year will be its biggest in terms of gross subscription additions since it launched in 2021.
Next year, Boreing says the company will expand its podcast suite and will add more focus to its children's subscription entertainment platform, Bentkey. 

The intrigue: Despite their political differences, Boreing says he’s taking cues from the New York Times.

"It's an unbelievable success, and it shows us that there is a path to serving an audience on-platform and not being completely at the mercy of the social partner."

What to watch: Most of Daily Wire’s content today is focused on news analysis and entertainment. But looking ahead, Boreing said the firm wants to invest more in original journalism.