European publisher Keleops acquires Gizmodo, marking its third ownership change in 8 years

Gizmodo, a long-standing technology news and review site, has been sold for the third time in the past eight years. This time, it has been acquired by Switzerland-based Keleops, a European publisher looking to expand its coverage of the digital scene. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed in the announcement made by Keleops on Tuesday.

In 2016, Gizmodo was purchased by Univision Communications for $135 million after its previous owner, Gawker Media, went bankrupt following a legal battle with former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. Univision later sold Gizmodo and the satirical publication The Onion to Boston investment firm Great Hill Partners in 2019 for a price believed to be a fraction of the 2016 deal. G/O Media was created by Great Hill after the acquisition and recently sold The Onion to tech executive Jeff Lawson, the founder of online business software provider Twilio.

Keleops CEO, Jean-Guillaume Kleis, who founded the company a decade ago, plans to leverage Gizmodo’s brand and reputation to implement a more traditional business strategy. Kleis predicts that combining Keleops’ digital expertise with Gizmodo’s content and editorial knowledge will benefit both audiences and partners.

Gizmodo, based in New York, gained widespread attention in 2010 when it acquired an early prototype of Apple’s iPhone 4, which Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs contended was stolen. Jobs accused Gizmodo of attempting to extort Apple to retrieve the device, leading to an apology from a Gizmodo editor. However, local prosecutors in Silicon Valley did not press charges in that incident.