Through an exclusive article with Axios, Daily Wire announced that Co-CEO Jeremy Boreing would be stepping down from his role effective immediately. Caleb Robinson, the other Co-CEO will be the sole CEO going forward. Per Axios, he will remain with the company to focus on the creative content, including Bentkey, which creates children’s entertainment, and the anticipated The Pendragon Cycle series.
Jeremy Boreing got his start in a Hollywood conservative “secret” society called Friends of Abe, which dissolved in 2016 over disputes about Donald Trump. Boreing, being a Never Trumper at the time, oversaw the collapse of the group and pivoted into Daily Wire. During his tenure, Boreing took $4.7 million in seed money from the anti-trinitarian Zionist Farris Wilks and transformed it into a billion-dollar company that grosses over $200 million in revenue.
Daily Wire has had a series of controversies and high-profile departures, including Candace Owens and Brett Cooper, neither of which were under positive terms. Moreover, there was drama in their negotiations with Steven Crowder. Any time there is bad publicity, Jeremy Boreing was the face that presents the side of Daily Wire, as was expected, but he was not without his own additions to the drama, as was seen in his feud with The Blaze’s Jason Whitlock.
Doubtless, Jeremy Boreing is the brain behind the creative direction of the Daily Wire, transforming it into a content creation series of mixed quality while using the brand and its creators to maximize merchandise, which includes chocolates, razors, cigars, and other items that are functionally DW Private label. Merchandise sales exceeded $22 million in 2023. In 2024, Jeremy’s Razors was expected to gross over $20 million while they received $4.2 million in orders for Mayflower Cigars. As CEO, Boreing was effective at monetizing his content creators and his own Name, Image, and Likeness.
The ability to monetize the brand might function as a revenue “sugar rush,” meaning they will receive sales and pre-orders on cigars and chocolates, but the revenues will not be sustained. It also presents the problem of Diminishing Marginal Returns, meaning that with each private label gimmick, they are less successful. The Jeremy’s Razors label worked because it monetized controversy, but this is not a sustainable strategy for selling products as people lose interest with each subsequent controversy. (Note: DW gives away razors to new DW+ subscribers, which are likely to count towards razor sales).
Analysis
Financially, there are a variety of reasons for this departure that have little to do with a focus on content. Last year, Daily Wire raised money at a valuation north of $1 billion, which signifies their demand for capital to fuel their operations. Combined with rumors of financial strain, which surround many of Daily Wire’s entertainment moonshots, Jeremy Boreing’s Hollywood ambitions are likely draining the company. With such a large valuation and revenue, a profitable company would be vying at an IPO to pay off their investors, not dilute them. This is certainly indicative of financial mismanagement or major inefficiencies.
Ian Carroll, whom Daily Wire feuded against when he appeared on Rogan, claims that Daily Wire is financially struggling due to Pendragon. He cited an alleged hiring halt, freezing of the company credit cards, and a hostile work environment. He even suggested that Boreing was behind rumors of Fox News being interested in purchasing Daily Wire, something also published by Axios at the time, which is quite a coincidence that Axios broke both stories. Though a rumor, Carroll is claiming the split was not amicable, much like the other departures.
The Pendragon Cycle is an “Arthurian legend set in a Roman-occupied Britain” based on source material. Being a fantasy or historical piece, it doubtless is an expensive project, just like Rome, Game of Thrones, The Borgia’s, Witcher, House of the Dragon, and The Rings of Power, several of which were the most expensive shows ever made at the time. This level of cash-burn is not affordable for a company that only achieves $200 million in revenue. Whether it will be good remains to be seen, but it looks to be a “high production value” show. Monetizing this production will prove difficult as they are not a conventional streaming service, and their history of lackluster content bodes poorly for their ability to attract new DW+ subscribers to watch one show, which has yet to be released or announce a release date. The monthly cost for an Insider subscriber is $15 which is discounted down to $12.41 for an annual plan. This would require a substantial number of new subscriptions to be profitable.
Daily Wire having financial problems is one hurdle, but they also have a brand problem. As the younger generations become increasingly apathetic to Israel, Daily Wire has become increasingly antagonistic towards such anti-Zionists, with Jordan Peterson teaming up with an ADL allied firm to publish a paper against the phrase “Christ is King.” This cultural shift represents a major headwind for a brand that is tied, for obvious reasons, to Zionism.
Though they do not disclose subscriber counts, this has probably caused churn in their subscription model, spurring them to do gimmicks like “47% off DW All Access” or Free Derek Chauvin. That 47% off jumps back to an auto-bill of $249. The 18-35 age demographic not being as receptive to the Daily Wire poses a problem for their ability to monetize The Pendragon Cycle, as ratings in this demographic is critical in TV success.
Conclusion
Jeremy Boreing stepping back at Daily Wire is a major deal for the company, but comes amid a time of brand controversy, particularly with high-profile drama and an inability to reach the Zoomers. It also comes after reasonable speculation that such projects as Pendragon are financially ruining the company, all because many conservative content creators failed in Hollywood. Overall, the self-proclaimed “god-king” has suffered a massive hit to his ego.
One Response
He should have known that having a hispanic immigrant take a high profile White woman’s job would backfire on him in the era of deportations. He gave us a literal example of them taking our jobs.