The Information
A privately owned digital technology and business news publication founded by journalist Jessica Lessin in late 2013, built around deeply reported journalism and a subscription-oriented model.
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- Established
- Late 2013
- Location
- San Francisco, California; New York, New York
- Country
- United States
- Founder and CEO
- Jessica Lessin
- Coverage
- Technology and business news, with deeply reported stories about the technology industry
- Business model
- Subscription-oriented publication for an engaged professional audience
- Bureaus
- West Coast bureau in San Francisco and East Coast bureau in New York
- Ownership claim
- The official About page says Jessica Lessin owns the publication and that it has no venture-capital or corporate owners
- Historical 2016 metrics
- Politico reported many thousands of subscribers, a $399 annual price, 19 full-time staff and positive cash flow; these figures are historical, not current
Overview
The Information is a privately owned, digital-first publication covering technology and business. It was founded by journalist Jessica Lessin in late 2013 after she left The Wall Street Journal to build a subscription website for technology-focused executives (The Information; POLITICO). The publication’s official About page identifies Lessin as Founder & CEO and says the newsroom focuses on deeply reported technology stories that readers will not find elsewhere (The Information).
A subscription publication for technology professionals
The Knight Foundation’s interview with Lessin describes The Information as a digital-first technology-industry site whose core readers are business professionals and leaders in technology and finance. Lessin presents subscription as the business model for differentiated reporting and says the publication is designed around an engaged audience rather than the pursuit of the lowest-common-denominator click (Knight Foundation).
Launch and historical business record
POLITICO reported that Lessin left The Wall Street Journal in June 2013, that The Information launched three years later in December 2013, and that by October 2016 it had many thousands of subscribers, a $399 annual price point, 19 full-time employees across San Francisco, New York and Hong Kong, and positive cash flow (POLITICO). Those numbers are historical and are not treated as current metrics here.
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not assert a legal entity name, incorporation jurisdiction, current subscriber count, current pricing, current headcount or current ownership beyond the official About page’s first-party statement. It also does not add a link to Jessica Lessin or another organization until an existing FactsLedger target is verified and the relationship is supported in the profile’s source set.
Timeline
- 2013-06
- Jessica Lessin leaves The Wall Street Journal to build a subscription technology-news publication.
- Late 2013
- The Information launches.
- 2014
- Martin Peers joins The Information after editing Lessin at The Wall Street Journal, according to Politico.
- 2016-10-24
- Politico reports historical subscriber, pricing, staffing and cash-flow details.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- Verify the legal entity name and incorporation jurisdiction.
- Establish an exact launch date from a dated primary record.
- Independently verify current ownership, headcount, subscriber numbers, pricing and bureau status.
- Verify whether a separate FactsLedger profile exists for Jessica Lessin before proposing a founder link.
Sources
3 sources (2 tier 1, 1 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
Historical subscriber, pricing, staffing and cash-flow figures are dated to 2016 and are not presented as current metrics. The official ownership statement is identified as first-party rather than independent verification.
- Jessica Lessin Tier 1Supports: Independent description of Lessin as founder and editor-in-chief, The Information as a digital-first technology publication, its subscription model, audience and differentiated reporting approach. Open original source
- Supports: Lessin's June 2013 departure from The Wall Street Journal, the December 2013 launch, and historical 2016 subscribers, price, staffing and cash-flow details. Open original source
- About Us First-partySupports: The publication's identity, late-2013 founding, founder and CEO Jessica Lessin, mission, ownership claim, and San Francisco/New York bureau addresses. Open original source
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