Ziff Davis is buying CNET for just $100 million | News World

Red Ventures is selling CNET to Ziff Davis, the digital media and internet company that owns other notable tech publications like Mashable, IGN, and Lifehacker. Ziff Davis’ chief executive, Vivek Shah, confirmed the acquisition to The New York Times on Tuesday.

Ironically, back in 2000, it was CNET Networks Inc. that paid $1.6 billion to acquire the then-tech-publishing-behemoth Ziff-Davis Inc. and its online services company, ZDNet. So much has happened in the last two decades in the form of divestments and realignments that today’s inverted purchase isn’t as ouroboric as it might seem. In 2020, Red Ventures acquired CNET along with a few other smaller properties for $500 million.

While an official figure hasn’t been announced, Ziff Davis reportedly paid “more than $100 million for CNET,” according to the Times’ sources — a fraction of the $1.8 billion it was valued at…