Quartz[2] is an American English language news website owned by
G/O Media. Focused on international business news, it was founded in 2012 by
Atlantic Media in New York City as a "digitally native news outlet for business people in the new global economy".[3] It initially did not have a
paywall, then did,[4] then dropped it.[5]
History
On September 24, 2012, Quartz launched its website,[2] designed to deliver content primarily to mobile and tablet users. Its founding team members were from news organizations including
Bloomberg, The Economist, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.[6][7] According to its website, Quartz's team reports in 115 countries and speaks 19 languages.[8] The publication was initially led by Kevin Delaney, a former managing director of WSJ.com, Zach Seward, a former WSJ social media editor, and
Gideon Lichfield, a global news editor from The Economist, among other editors.[3]
Quartz's main office is located in New York. It also has correspondents and staff reporters based in Hong Kong, India, London, Los Angeles, Thailand, Washington DC, and elsewhere.[8]
In 2014, Quartz expanded into India, launching Quartz India. In 2015, it launched the Africa-focused Quartz Africa.[9][10]
In 2015, it launched Atlas, a chart-building platform.[11]
In 2015, it had specific publications for Africa, Hong Kong, India, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates.[9]
According to Ad Age, Quartz made around $30 million in revenue in 2016, and employed 175 people.[12]
In 2017, revenue decreased to $27.6 million as advertising shrank.[13] In August 2017, Quartz's website saw about 22 million unique visitors. Approximately 700,000 people subscribe to its roster of email newsletters, which includes its flagship Daily Brief.[14]
In July 2018, Japanese company Uzabase (Japanese:
ユーザベース) acquired Quartz from
Atlantic Media for $86 million.[15][4][1]
In October 2019 co-founder/co-CEO/editor in chief Kevin Delaney stepped down from his position. Zach Seward, the company's second employee, became the company's new chief executive officer.[16][17]
Revenue fell from $11.6 million in the first half of 2019 to $5 million in the first half of 2020. In November 2020, Uzabase sold Quartz to the publication's staff.[21][22]
Quartz is structured around a collection of phenomena or what it calls "obsessions"[25][26] instead of "
beats", preferring news stories or reports to be either short or long rather than middle of the road or average.