The New York Times Corporation is in exclusive talks to acquire the online movie buff community Letterboxd, the Times reported Thursday.
The price is reportedly around $330 million; That’s more than 20 times Letterboxd’s estimated 2026 earnings of about $15 million. The New York Times said the deal is not yet final.
Diversity In September, it reported that the New York Times and A24 were among bidders for the company, and that Netflix, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Skydance, private equity giant TPG and Reddit co-creator Alexis Ohanian were also interested.
The report stated that co-founders Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow, who report to the NY Times executive, are expected to remain in office.
According to the report, A24 had promised independence in operating the facility but withdrew when the price rose. Letterboxd has nearly 30 million movie-obsessed users who use the site to keep track of what they watch and rate movies with a star system. Last year, Letterboxd also launched an online movie rental platform available in 23 countries.
While Letterboxd’s basic features are free for users, the app offers a paid Pro tier for $19 per year that removes ads and provides more personalization features. The $49 Patron tier offers customized posters and backgrounds and gives access to some beta features.
New Zealand-based Letterboxd was founded in 2011 and has been shopping to interested parties in recent months. Canadian holding company Tiny purchased a 60% stake in Letterboxd in 2023 at a valuation of $50 million to $60 million, while the remaining 40% shares belong to Buchanan and von Randow.
The acquisition would be a natural continuation of subscription-based companies that the New York Times has acquired to increase reader engagement, including sports site The Athletic, product review service Wirecutter and popular game Wordle.
The New York Times had no comment on the matter.