Reversing course, CEO says Ozy Media will not shut down

The CEO of Ozy Media on Monday called the company’s announcement last week that it was shutting down “premature” and that after meeting with advertisers and investors that it would continue to operate.

“We have something special here,” Carlos Watson told CNBC on Monday morning.

The board of directors of Ozy emailed a statement Friday saying the company was ceasing operations less than a week after a New York Times column raised questions about the media organization’s claims of millions of viewers and readers, while also pointing out a potential case of securities fraud.

The story triggered canceled shows, an internal investigation, investor concern and high-level departures at the company.