The Daily Wire, the prominent Conservative Inc. brand founded in 2015 by Ben Shapiro, Jeremy Boreing, and Caleb Robinson, announced another major leadership transition on Wednesday. Co-founder and CEO Caleb Robinson is stepping down immediately, with President Mike Richards, a veteran network television producer known for Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, and The Price Is Right, elevated to the CEO position.
In what appear to be Robinson’s words, Daily Wire announced:
Stepping down as CEO of Daily Wire. Effective immediately, my new title is ‘guy on the board who still owns a lot of the company.’ Pay cut in stress. Raise in the important things. Handing the keys to Mike Richards… 5x Emmy winner. Hollywood expat. Eats, sleeps, and drinks content. Never makes a deal unless the price is right.
Built something special here over a decade. We’re the largest and most impactful digital media company for people who love this amazing country. And now we make it even bigger. Thank you to our audience of millions. Yes, millions.
Despite being a founder, Robinson’s tenure as CEO was a short and tumultuous one, cleaning up much of the mess of Jeremy Boreing’s Hollywood ambitions and how they affected the company. Behind the veneer of a cheesy joke undergirds a hefty amount of copium.
Jeremy Boreing sank the Daily Wire in part by trying to compete with Netflix by being a destination streaming service. This was disastrous as the Daily Wire tainted its brand among conservatives who dubbed it the Israeli Wire and whose content was questionable on a good day. Between girl boss action movies, documentaries, and that one poorly received comedy, the Daily Wire did not become a destination, and no amount of money could make Pendragon change this.
Mike Richards, who served as the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of the Daily Wire, being promoted to CEO signals a commitment to creating entertainment content. It’s also possible, as the Price is Right reference suggests, that he will moneyball content creation at the Daily Wire. The Hollywood movie about the Oakland Athletics inspired a whole school of thought in corporate America about extracting value out of brands and products, ultimately ruining American consumer staples, like Hershey, through shrinkflation and creative stagnation.
And while the Daily Wire projects confidence in this decision, citing 5 Emmys, having 3 CEOs in 2 years is some late Soviet Union shenanigans.
