Binance invests $200 million to buy stake in Forbes

[SensitiveEyes]

I've spotted this while reading tech news. Binance invests $200 million to buy a share of Forbes.

https://nypost.com/2022/02/10/forbes-gets-200m-investment-from-crypto-exchange-binance/

Binance sued Forbes in 2020 for defamation but dropped the case, now they've invested making a deal. It's business but it's the size of the deal that's striking. Binance will be able to correct misinformation about crypto and Forbes get a cash injection that helps them merge with Magnum Opus Acquisition a SPAC in a controversial deal.

Last month it's listed Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao's worth at $96 billion. That's how far the world's changed in 5 years since Binance started business. Apart from Binance using financial clout to buy a share of a financial institute in Forbes so they can control some of the media narratives about crypto, what's in it for Binance? It's understandable Forbes grabbing the $200 million because they want to plan ahead for their business but I'm trying to understand what Binance and Changpeng Zhao want here with the deal.

The press article reads Binance is currently banned by regulator in the UK and it's being investigated for criminal activity by the US Justice Department and IRS so it's not going to be welcomed news by all businesses and investors.

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[e_abrams]

Why fight them when you can just buy them instead? 
That has been big business' motto for a long time now, Binance is learning fast.
Joking aside though, that is, indeed, a pretty significant investment.

[rdbase]

Binance suing Forbes for defamation is news to me. But wouldn't be too surprised since they run press on cryptocurrencies and usually when they have stories of cyber crime involving it since it typically gets more clicks for them.
But now with a very prominent exchange owning some shares in their company, they can write whatever press they want just as long it shows them in the best side possible.
They will be running an advertisement during the big game this weekend.
So wanting to see how well that will be received by the US audience.

[dothebeats]

They're just buying a piece of their enemy's company to make an influence in some decision-making. That $200 million is certainly worth it if the goal is to mask negative press, or to make Binance look good in the eyes of common people and lots of investors. They can even up the number if Forbes prove to be beneficial to what they want to achieve, that's for sure.

[DapanasFruit]

Of course, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has a clear-cut vision of where he is taking its main business as crypto exchange to the general population and having a media-focused outfit can be helping. And maybe he also has in mind on how to make Forbes more profitable and compete in the shrinking legacy media market. This is an interesting thing to watch on how things will be developing on this regard but am more trusting on the genius side of CZ to make things better and lucrative as he is building his own empire.

[cabron]

No doubt Chinese are already ahead of owning several US companies. Binance can change the view of what people think about crypto. Clear the reputation of Binance that is being killed in the country and perhaps influence officials for legislation of some new laws about crypto regulations. I think it's going to move forward from this day on. And I think they have planned this too while the economy in the country is also crashing.

[Poker Player]

Interesting. Although this may attract attention I bet that in a few years it will be quite normal for crypto companies to have investments in other traditional companies that do not come from the crypto world. Another form of investment that I believe will become more widespread in the coming years is investment in advertising. If, say, Coinbase starts investing a considerable amount in advertising in the FT every year, the likelihood of an editorial line advocating that cryptocurrencies are a fraud and have no future is greatly reduced.

Another way they can influence these forms of investment positively is to give more coverage to crypto news.

In any case it looks like good news for us.

[mk4]

Probably an unpopular opinion but I'm fine with this. So much hateful opposition propaganda against Bitcoin/crypto on typical "news" sites that at the very least this should bring a little bit of balance. Fighting fire with fire.

[Woodie]

This is a well calculated move by binance to pick these guys because using Forbes reach means more exposure and impressions for the company which i expect these guys to easily recoup their investment in no time. Kudos to you binance another win for all of us in the crypto verse, hope other crypto companies will emulate them.

[btc78]

Let them do their business, not because they have sued the company in the past meaning they will stay as enemy , remember that in business nothing is personal and nothing is permanent.
your competition today will be your partner tomorrow , so  let them Be and besides Binance is a successful business and I'm sure they knew what they are entering.
Why not just be happy and expect good return in binances investment , because We as Binance supporter will benefit from this lol.

[SensitiveEyes]

Binance isn't buying Forbes, it's investing. It's business strategy so these investments take place regularly but Changpeng Zhao's interested in getting something out of it. I've thought about this and concluded he's playing a game where he's slotting in to the correct channels and associating with people higher up the chain of influence for his own measures. In business terms you can't blame Changpeng Zhao for thinking ahead because in business the facts are everything could change tomorrow so better start planning today.

What can't be underestimated are facts Binance is under investigation in the US and other countries for money laundering. Buying into Forbes allows Changpeng Zhao to influence how he and Binance are presented around the globe. He said he isn't going to influence Forbes' output but that's hard to accept at face value after the $200 million cash injection. If he's trying to use Forbes to show everybody crypto use isn't bad or illegal then that's something good that could come out from the deal. Let's face it there are millions of people who don't know about crypto except negative things they read in the news so in one aspect this investment might help address those concerns.

I'm surprised Forbes would get into a relationship with any crypto company, especially one that's under investigation for criminal activities. Forbes has a reputation which took hit with the announcement but they required a cash injection for their merger with Magnum Opus Acquisition. Was it really worth it for Forbes in the end now their reputation's been damaged.

Why fight them when you can just buy them instead? 
That has been big business' motto for a long time now, Binance is learning fast.
Joking aside though, that is, indeed, a pretty significant investment.

[hugeblack]

I will not be surprised by that, and perhaps it is a smart investment, as Binance has money and is trying to expand in many countries, and therefore a good reputation is what you are looking for now.
I've seen some ads for them in the Africa Cup and there are probably many marketing campaigns that they do.
I hope they've invested enough in security, the last thing we want to hear is another bitcoin billion dollar hack.

Is there a possibility to track their investments or to disclose it publicly?

[mia_houston]

Binance isn't buying Forbes, it's investing. It's business strategy so these investments take place regularly but Changpeng Zhao's interested in getting something out of it. I've thought about this and concluded he's playing a game where he's slotting in to the correct channels and associating with people higher up the chain of influence for his own measures. In business terms you can't blame Changpeng Zhao for thinking ahead because in business the facts are everything could change tomorrow so better start planning today.

What can't be underestimated are facts Binance is under investigation in the US and other countries for money laundering. Buying into Forbes allows Changpeng Zhao to influence how he and Binance are presented around the globe. He said he isn't going to influence Forbes' output but that's hard to accept at face value after the $200 million cash injection. If he's trying to use Forbes to show everybody crypto use isn't bad or illegal then that's something good that could come out from the deal. Let's face it there are millions of people who don't know about crypto except negative things they read in the news so in one aspect this investment might help address those concerns.

I'm surprised Forbes would get into a relationship with any crypto company, especially one that's under investigation for criminal activities. Forbes has a reputation which took hit with the announcement but they required a cash injection for their merger with Magnum Opus Acquisition. Was it really worth it for Forbes in the end now their reputation's been damaged.

Why fight them when you can just buy them instead? 
That has been big business' motto for a long time now, Binance is learning fast.
Joking aside though, that is, indeed, a pretty significant investment.

Binance is quite observant in seeing the opportunity to further develop their platform, with the deal certainly making binance one of the largest owners of Forbes right now, and reportedly binance will get two director seats on the board at Forbes in the future, I think by acquiring forbes this will also will affect the development of crypto in the real world, Binance has shown the world how crypto platforms can become a go public company and be able to compete with other big companies in the world, we hope that what binance does will not only benefit binance but of course we as a crypto community can get a positive impact from the steps taken by  binance.

[AmoreJaz]

Probably an unpopular opinion but I'm fine with this. So much hateful opposition propaganda against Bitcoin/crypto on typical "news" sites that at the very least this should bring a little bit of balance. Fighting fire with fire.

This is a well calculated move by binance to pick these guys because using Forbes reach means more exposure and impressions for the company which i expect these guys to easily recoup their investment in no time. Kudos to you binance another win for all of us in the crypto verse, hope other crypto companies will emulate them.

a very smart move indeed! if they have vested interest on this company, and the employees know about, i don't think they will give negative criticism to one of their investors. also, they may have a say whenever there is negative propaganda towards crypto. their side can be heard and elaborate things to educate people with facts. we can't deny the existence of writers who are anti-bitcoin or anti-crypto, writing according to what they perceive on things, not on factual basis.

[suzanne5223]

Of course, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has a clear-cut vision of where he is taking its main business as crypto exchange to the general population and having a media-focused outfit can be helping. And maybe he also has in mind on how to make Forbes more profitable and compete in the shrinking legacy media market. This is an interesting thing to watch on how things will be developing on this regard but am more trusting on the genius side of CZ to make things better and lucrative as he is building his own empire.

I think the reason why CZ Binance invested in Forbes more than making Forbes more profitable or competing with the media market is that I believe he's using the strategy of letting your money work for you. The last time I checked Forbes is one of the reputable companies in the world and there's no way CZ and Binance won't benefit from his investment.
He invested in Forbes, to help his company and literally crypto.

[DaveF]

There is a subtle difference between exerting no influence over editorial content and people knowing that from now on publishing "crypto is bad" and "Binance is bad" articles might be frowned upon.
Even with them being a minority stake holder you still don't want to piss one of the bosses off.
And, lets face it, if there is a crypto article that needs research instead of going to Google the writers will go to their 'preferred corporate relations' who can spin whatever into a more positive view.

Think about when Disney bought Fox entertainment Matt Groening and The Simpsons team could get away with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVd0-ka1Brk
because of who they were in terms of revenue generation. There were a lot of people who could not.

-Dave

[Darker45]

Purely from the point of view of business, this must be a wise decision. Forbes is a globally influential media company. Having a significant stake with the company means sharing with that influence. Bitcoin and crypto have been heavily criticized by the traditional media. This must somehow change the playing field. Now, a crypto company is part owner of one of the world's giant mind-conditioning machines.

CZ is playing his cards well. The best way to stop them from going against you is to buy them.

[batang_bitcoin]

Good news heard today. They are progressing and spreading their investment everywhere. They will spread the name of blockchain to ever person of the world and will make bitcoin understandable to everyone.

That's what has been doing and it won't stop just from there. It's like an expansion from different common names on their respective fields.
And with this CZ and its own company Binance bringing its partnership with these fields, it's really a development that shall maintain the popularity of what has been brought by binance.

[7788bitcoin]

~
Last month it's listed Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao's worth at $96 billion. That's how far the world's changed in 5 years since Binance started business. Apart from Binance using financial clout to buy a share of a financial institute in Forbes so they can control some of the media narratives about crypto, what's in it for Binance? It's understandable Forbes grabbing the $200 million because they want to plan ahead for their business but I'm trying to understand what Binance and Changpeng Zhao want here with the deal.

Changpeng Zhao and Binance change their fortunes in a very short period of time and in that he became a billionaire in a short period of time and he started purchasing business that cater around cryptocurrency first and he was successful on that aspect and now he can control the narrative in the cryptocurrency space. He is now looking to expand his universe and that is what we are seeing here.

The press article reads Binance is currently banned by regulator in the UK and it's being investigated for criminal activity by the US Justice Department and IRS so it's not going to be welcomed news by all businesses and investors.

These are all true but in the end i am sure he will get free off all those legal implications with the kind of money he has right now.

[Mpamaegbu]

Binance will be able to correct misinformation about crypto

That comment I quoted lends credence to what I read online last year or so that CZ is actually Satoshi Nakamoto. Why would CZ bother about the general backlash and negative energy on cryptos if he doesn't have an interest to protect beyond owning and running an exchange to warrant him speeding such a huge amount to run a publicity stunt for cryptos. He isn't the only one who doesn't like the negative comments on crypyos neither is he the only one who owns an exchange.