BRYAN GOLDBERG

BUST LE DIGITAL GROUP FOUNDER AND CEO

GOAL› Aggregate millennial audiences across women-focused content brands to become a must-buy for category marketers BACK WHEN GAWKER MEDIA was a going concern, its writers attacked Goldberg as a clueless, arrogant bro after he launched the women-targeted Bustle in 2013 following his sale of clickfriendly sports-media start-up Bleacher Report to Turner. Now Goldberg owns Gawker.com (which he snapped up for a song at a bankruptcy auction) and plans to relaunch the site this year — aiming to build on his track record of operating focused content properties that generate revenue. Goldberg has not only weathered the economic challenges of the digital-media space but also found opportunities in the malaise. Bustle bought Mic in late 2018 after the news start-up ran out of cash and fired nearly all its staff. He bought Flavorpill, a digital culture publisher and events producer, and Rachel Zoe’s fashion and lifestyle brand Zoe Report earlier in the year. In 2017, Goldberg acquired news site Elite Daily from the U.K.’S Daily Mail and repositioned it to aim at young female audiences.

TREND TO WATCH: “The transition from print to digital will reach its ultimate conclusion in 2019 — the can has been kicked as far as it will go,” Goldberg says. “When the next decade begins, we will know which media brands are here to stay and which will be left in the past.”