Business Insider SA Phillip de Wet ,
20 Feb
On 28 February, Business Insider South Africa will shut down.
We will flip the switch with a tinge of sadness, but less than you may imagine. While this publication will shut down, what we offered – fast, fun, and fearless coverage of business (and not-quite-business) topics – will continue elsewhere, uninterrupted.
Details of how to find that are below.
Business Insider SA launched in February 2018 as a partnership between what was then known as Business Insider, a German-owned American-headquartered outlet that pioneered a new way of online publishing, and News24, part of the Media24 group.
In the half-decade since, there have been fundamental changes at every level on both sides of that partnership, reflecting the evolution of media around the world. Business Insider is now simply Insider, a publication with a business section that sits alongside its coverage of news and lifestyle topics, by a staff that has hugely expanded since 2018. News24 has likewise massively expanded its editorial staff, funded in part by a subscription option it launched after 22 years as a free-to-air website.
Both News24 and Insider have succeeded in an industry where success is very much not guaranteed. It is probably no coincidence that both have been willing to take bold strategic decisions in order to better serve readers and to secure the money necessary to continue doing so.
Now Insider has decided not to renew the licensing agreement that created this publication, which comes to the end of its five-year term this month.
News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson said he was extremely proud of what Business Insider SA had achieved in five years.
“BI, as we called it, came from nowhere and quickly turned the business media market on its head. With an approach that is much more consumer focused, BI soon became the largest business website in South Africa. In its five years of existence, BI was always in the top three ranking of business websites, alongside its sister publication News24 Business.”
Basson said it was sad to see the Insider partnership go, but that News24 will soon announce an exciting new section focussing on technology and trends.
After closure, this website will redirect to Insider.com. If you wish to keep following the international news coverage from Insider previously found here, check out the Insider newsletters menu.
For coverage of South Africa, sign up for a free News24 account to see its many and varied newsletter options.
That will also put you in the know when News24 soon announces a new section that we reckon Business Insider South Africa readers will find interesting.
South African articles from our archive will move to News24.com, while articles from other countries will be available at Insider.com.
Thank you for being part of our journey. We hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have, and we look forward to seeing you from 1 March, albeit under a different banner.
Phillip de Wet
