--- category: Private Organization created: 2026-09-23 location: New York City, New York, USA relations: - fn: 1 reverse: true start: 2022 type: founded with: '[[Ben Smith]]' - fn: 1 reverse: true start: 2022 type: founded with: '[[Justin Smith]]' - end: 2023 fn: 3 reverse: true role: about 10 million dollars, repurchased 2023 start: 2022 type: funded with: '[[Sam Bankman-Fried]]' - fn: 1 reverse: true start: 2022 type: funded with: '[[Jorge Paulo Lemann]]' - fn: 1 reverse: true start: 2022 type: funded with: '[[David Bradley]]' - fn: 1 reverse: true start: 2022 type: funded with: '[[Jessica Lessin]]' - fn: 1 reverse: true start: 2022 type: funded with: '[[John Thornton]]' - fn: 3 reverse: true start: 2023 type: funded with: '[[Stand Together]]' - fn: 3 reverse: true start: 2023 type: funded with: '[[Henry Kravis]]' - fn: 3 reverse: true start: 2023 type: funded with: '[[Jerry Yang]]' - fn: 3 reverse: true start: 2023 type: funded with: '[[Jamal Daniel]]' - fn: 3 reverse: true start: 2023 type: funded with: '[[Gallup]]' start: 2022 summary: News company launched October 18, 2022 by Ben Smith and Justin Smith with 25 million dollars from investors including Sam Bankman-Fried, whose roughly 10 million dollars it repurchased in 2023 for FTX creditors. tags: - Organization - Media - Journalism - FTX - SamBankmanFried updated: 2026-09-23 --- Semafor is a news company founded by Justin Smith, former chief executive of Bloomberg Media, and Ben Smith, former editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News and columnist at the *[New York Times](/organizations/new-york-times/)*; the two are not related. It launched on October 18, 2022 with a staff of 60 and 25 million dollars in private capital.[^1] ### Launch investors The first round came from the Atlantic chairman emeritus David Bradley, The Information founder Jessica Lessin, John Thornton, founder of the American Journalism Project, [Sam Bankman-Fried](/people/sam-bankman-fried/), founder of [FTX](/organizations/ftx/), and 3G Capital co-founder Jorge Paulo Lemann, as well as Justin Smith. Gina Chua was executive editor, Benjy Sarlin Washington bureau chief, Liz Hoffman business editor, Reed Albergotti technology editor and Steve Clemons editor at large. Justin Smith said the name meant "the bearer of a signal" and was "the same word in 35 different languages."[^1] ### Bankman-Fried stake After the collapse of FTX, Justin Smith wrote to staff on December 2, 2022 that the company had "set up a series of firewalls to ensure independence from our investors" and that Bankman-Fried "has no influence over our editorial coverage or operations"; Semafor said it would let "government investigations determine what happens with Bankman-Fried's investment."[^2] On May 24, 2023 Semafor announced a 19-million-dollar round, bringing its total raised to 34 million dollars after "the repurchase of the approximately $10 million in funds from Sam Bankman-Fried," which Semafor said would be "returned to FTX creditors as directed by officials." The new investors were Gallup; Henry Kravis, co-founder of KKR; Jamal Daniel, founder of Crest Media and owner of Al-Monitor; Jerry Yang of Yahoo and AME Cloud Ventures; Lemann again; and Stand Together, the philanthropic network founded by Charles Koch.[^3] ### Coverage of effective altruism and technology On December 7, 2025 Semafor's media reporter Max Tani reported that the [Tarbell Center for AI Journalism](/organizations/tarbell-center-for-ai-journalism/), mostly funded by [Open Philanthropy](/organizations/open-philanthropy/) as Coefficient Giving, had placed fellows at *[Time](/organizations/time/)*, Bloomberg, *The Verge*, the *[Los Angeles Times](/organizations/los-angeles-times/)* and *The Information*, and that Semafor itself had briefly hosted a fellow, ending the agreement "after several weeks without publishing any of their work." Coefficient's communications director, [Naina Bajekal](/people/naina-bajekal/), said: "We have no involvement in coverage decisions."[^4] Semafor has also reported on [Jaan Tallinn](/people/jaan-tallinn/)'s AI investments and donations (April 2023), a lawsuit against [Charles C. Johnson](/people/charles-c-johnson/) (October 2024) and a private club founded by [Peter Thiel](/people/peter-thiel/) and [Auren Hoffman](/people/auren-hoffman/) (August 2025).[^5][^6][^7] On September 3, 2026 Ben Smith published an interview with Coefficient Giving's chief executive, [Alexander Berger](/people/alexander-berger/).[^8] [^1]: Johnson, Ted. "Semafor Launches With Aim Of Boosting Trust In Global News Amid A Busy Digital Marketplace." *Deadline,* October 18, 2022. http://web.archive.org/web/20250210093253/https://deadline.com/2022/10/semafor-ben-smith-justin-smith-1235147535/ [^2]: "Semafor Puts Its Sam Bankman-Fried Investment in the Feds' Hands." *The Daily Beast,* December 2, 2022. https://www.thedailybeast.com/semafor-puts-its-sam-bankman-fried-investment-in-the-feds-hands/ [^3]: Spangler, Todd. "Semafor Banks $19 Million in New Funding as News Startup Is Set to Relinquish $10 Million Investment From Sam Bankman-Fried." *Variety,* May 24, 2023. http://web.archive.org/web/20230601031949/https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/semafor-funding-ben-smith-justin-smith-1235623955/ [^4]: Tani, Max. "AI critics funded AI coverage at top newsrooms." *Semafor,* December 7, 2025. https://www.semafor.com/article/12/07/2025/ai-critics-funded-ai-coverage-at-top-newsrooms [^5]: "Co-founder of Skype invested in hot AI startups but thinks he failed." *Semafor,* April 28, 2023. https://www.semafor.com/article/04/28/2023/co-founder-of-skype-invested-in-hot-ai-startups-but-thinks-he-failed [^6]: "Business Partner Sues Chuck Johnson for Falsely Presenting as Intelligence Agent." *Semafor,* October 16, 2024. https://www.semafor.com/article/10/16/2024/business-partner-sues-chuck-johnson-for-falsely-presenting-as-intelligence-agent [^7]: "Private club founded by Peter Thiel, Auren Hoffman eyes campus near DC." *Semafor,* August 8, 2025. https://www.semafor.com/article/08/08/2025/private-club-founded-by-peter-thiel-auren-hoffman-eyes-campus-near-dc [^8]: Smith, Ben. "Coefficient Giving's CEO on Silicon Valley's $40 billion philanthropy boom." *Semafor,* September 3, 2026. https://www.semafor.com/article/09/03/2026/coefficient-givings-ceo-on-silicon-valley-40-billion-philanthropy-boom