Chris Richmond (entrepreneur)

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Chris Richmond
Image from iOS 3.jpg
Born
Christopher Richmond

(1986-07-29) July 29, 1986 (age 35)
Oakland, California,[1] U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Occupation
  • CEO of Proper Media
  • CEO of TV Tropes
  • CEO of Salon.com
EmployerProper Media
Websiteproper.io/about/chris-richmond

Chris Richmond (born July 29, 1986) is a businessperson and entrepreneur.[2] He founded a television streaming site called ShareTV.com, co-founded an ad network called Proper Media and acquired stakes in popular websites such as TV Tropes, Snopes and Salon.com.[3][4][5]

Career[]

The first website he built was a search tool called PCNames which helps to find available domain names.[6] Richmond founded his first large website in 2007, called ShareTV.com.[7] This became one of the first online distribution partners of HULU and TheWB,[8] and was one of first sites to stream the Oscars online for the first time.[8]

In 2014, Richmond, along with his business partner Drew Schoentrup, acquired TV Tropes, a wiki geared toward fiction writers.[9] To announce the purchase, Richmond and Schoentrup launched a Kickstarter campaign to ask the members for their help in improving the project. The campaign raised more than $100,000 in donations.[10]

In 2015, Richmond helped found Proper Media. Its first official client was Snopes.com, the largest and oldest fact-checking website on the web.[11] After a year, Proper Media purchased[12] a significant stake in Snopes.com. There is currently a legal dispute[13] regarding whether Proper Media purchased 50% or 40% of Snopes.com. Richmond currently serves as a board member of the Snopes Media Group.[14]

In 2018, Richmond helped with his 3rd acquisition by acquiring Spoutable.com under Proper Media.[15] This acquisition added eight employees and nearly doubled the reach of Proper Media.[16]

In 2019, Richmond and his business partner completed the acquisition of Salon.com for $5 million from Salon Media Group (OTCQB: SLNM).[5][17]

Cybersquatting case[]

Richmond started out at ShareTV.org and was completely unable to obtain the commercial equivalent, ShareTV.com, from a cybersquatter. In 2013, Richmond won a lawsuit for ShareTV.com against the cybersquatter, despite the fact that they owned the domain seven years before ShareTV began its trademark.[18]

Snopes.com lawsuit[]

As of 2017, Richmond was engaged in a lawsuit against Snopes over whether he and Drew Schoentrup own 50% or 40% of Snopes.[19][20] As a result of this dispute, ad revenue was withheld from Snopes.com and its founder David Mikkelson launched a GoFundMe campaign to keep Snopes.com running.[21]

References[]

  1. ^ Dorset, Catlin (29 July 2015). "30(ish) Under 30(ish)". San Diego Union Tribune. Pacific San Diego. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  2. ^ Weiner, Yitzi (15 February 2018). "How I Hacked HULU to get Warner Brothers to Call, With Chris Richmond". Medium. Thrive Global.
  3. ^ Madrigal, Alexis C. (24 July 2017). "Snopes Faces an Ugly Legal Battle". The Atlantic. The Atlantic.
  4. ^ Funke, Daniel (20 March 2018). "Snopes has its site back. But the legal battle over its ownership will drag on for months". Poynter. Poynter Institute.
  5. ^ a b Kelly, Keith J. (2019-09-04). "Techies wrap up $5M acquisition of Salon Media". New York Post. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  6. ^ "Domain Name Search 2.0 : PCNames – Search Engine Journal". Search Engine Journal. 2006-10-18. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  7. ^ "About Us – ShareTV". sharetv.com. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  8. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (2013-02-24). "Oscar Telecast To Be Available Online For The First Time". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  9. ^ Sterling, Bruce. "TV Tropes, the all-devouring pop-culture wiki". WIRED. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  10. ^ "The TV Tropes Revitalization Project". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  11. ^ Waddell, Kaveh. "Should Facebook Buy Snopes?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  12. ^ "For Fact-Checking Website Snopes, a Bigger Role Brings More Attacks". The New York Times. 2016-12-25. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  13. ^ "Snopes, the internet's foremost fact-checking website, may die in a messy legal battle". Vox. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  14. ^ "Disclosures". snopes.com. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  15. ^ Bigelow, Bruce (12 March 2018). "Xconomy: Proper Media Acquires Spoutable, Last Piece of Venture Studio". Xconomy. Xconomy.
  16. ^ Media, Proper (27 February 2018). "Proper Media Acquires Spoutable.com". www.prnewswire.com. Proper Media. PRNewswire.
  17. ^ "slnm20190905_8k.htm". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  18. ^ "Troubling: Federal Court Gives ShareTv.com To ShareTv.Org Despite.Com Registered 3 Years Earlier & 7 Years Before TM". TheDomains.com. 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  19. ^ Bruno, Bianca (10 May 2017). "Fact-Checker Snopes' Owners Accused of Corporate Subterfuge". Courthouse News Service.
  20. ^ "Snopes, in Heated Legal Battle, Asks Readers for Money to Survive". The New York Times. 2017-07-24. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  21. ^ "Snopes and the Search for Facts in a Post-Fact World". WIRED. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
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