Lerma splits from The Richards Group

Hi and welcome to Insider Advertising for June 8. I'm senior advertising reporter Lauren Johnson, and here's what's going on:

• Lerma splits from The Richards Group.
• The Atlantic's union.
• Tracer raises $9.9 million.

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Tips, comments, suggestions? Drop me a line at LJohnson@insider.com or on Twitter at @LaurenJohnson.

The Richards Group's multicultural arm Lerma has split from the independent ad giant, taking some execs and clients with it

• Lerma has split off from The Richards Group, the biggest independent ad agency, Lindsay Rittenhouse reported.
• Lerma accelerated the split after a controversy last year where The Richards Group founder made racist comments.
• Its split has helped it win bigger accounts, including some from The Richards Group.

Read the story.

Editorial staffers at The Atlantic are forming a union

• Editorial staffers at The Atlantic said Monday they plan to form a union, Steven Perlberg reports.
• About 85 staffers are eligible to join the unit, organizers said.
• A wave of US newsrooms have mounted union drives in recent years.

Read the story.

Gary Vaynerchuk-backed data startup raises $9.9 million in seed funding from investors including ex-Walmart exec Marc Lore and Kevin Durant

• Tracer, a data software startup that was incubated by ad agency VaynerMedia, raised $9.9 million in funding, Patrick Coffee reported.
• Partner Gary Vaynerchuk brought on investors like Marc Lore, who led the seed round, and Kevin Durant.
• The firm helps clients like Condé Nast and Sanofi collect and organize their consumer data.

Read the story.

Other stories we're reading:

• Google agrees to change its ad practices after France's antitrust watchdog fined the tech giant $267 million (Insider)
• S4 Capital increases revenue forecast for 2021 as advertising demand grows (Adweek)
• Shopify has seen a sudden rush of departures despite massive growth. Insiders say CEO Tobi Lütke's management style has helped spur the turnover. (Insider)
• Levi's CEO says Amazon's '$20 an hour' wages are forcing the jeans maker to rethink worker pay amid the tight labor market (Insider)
• Washington Post publisher accuses the Biden Justice Department of 'unprecedented assault on American news organizations' (Insider)

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow! You can reach me in the meantime at LJohnson@insider.com and subscribe to this daily email here.