The BuzzFeed media empire, reported to be$4, is profitable and growing. From 2012 to 2013, BuzzFeed's revenue tripled, and hit $46 million in the first half of 2014.
It's also doubling its investment in editorial content: In 2013, BuzzFeed spent almost $12 million on editorial. In the first half of 2014 alone, it spent $10.5 million.
BuzzFeed's strategy of combining serious editorial content with silly quizzes and video seems to be paying off. These numbers suggest that in 2014, BuzzFeed turned a profit of about $5 million on revenue of about $100 million, in line with earlier reports.
BuzzFeed declined to comment on this story.
A big part of BuzzFeed's business model revolves around using Facebook and other social media
![buzzfeed native advertising](https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55cb836f2acae711008bf90b-1279-798/buzzfeed native ad.png)
BuzzFeed
An example of native advertising on BuzzFeed. This post was sponsored by an advertiser, but it looks like any other story.
In 2011, BuzzFeed's cost of revenue was $662,436. In the first half of 2014 alone, it spent $5,818,808. That's a big jump, even factoring in the fact that its server bills are probably going up, too. And it suggests that BuzzFeed is spending even more millions this year on social media advertising.
Back in 2013, BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti $4.
Other highlights from those financials include the fact that BuzzFeed paid $1,000 in cash and 99,089 shares of stock valued at $.80 for Ze Frank Games, and that a publisher (presumed to be Google, by way of YouTube) paid BuzzFeed $3.5 million for original video content.
More recently, BuzzFeed raised a $50 million Series E round last summer, led by Andreessen Horowitz's Chris Dixon. The Series E capital infusion valued BuzzFeed at $4 at the time.
You can read the full BuzzFeed financial leaks $4.