The Blubber

Vivek Ramaswamy's vision for BuzzFeed is taking shape, as the entrepreneur and activist investor released a detailed letter outlining his recommendations for the company’s turnaround.

Ramaswamy recently disclosed a significant activist stake in BuzzFeed and, in his letter on Monday, revealed that he has increased his stake to 8.37 percent.

In a response also sent Monday, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti offered to meet with Ramaswamy to explain the company's strategy, as outlined in recent earnings calls, and to discuss why they believe it will generate the most value.

In his letter, Ramaswamy proposed adding three new board seats and implementing dramatic cost reductions.

"Instead of cutting from the top, the company should start from zero and retain only the resources required to create and monetize BuzzFeed's highest-value content," he wrote. "This will almost certainly require large-scale headcount reductions, abandoning the legacy digitized print business model, and divesting assets to repay debt."

Ramaswamy also suggested that BuzzFeed focus on "creator-led" content, highlighting the success of BuzzFeed’s YouTube series Hot Ones as a model to replicate.

"Seek talents across the political and cultural spectrum. Be bold. Don’t be afraid to challenge your audiences," he wrote. "From Candace Owens to Destiny, Tucker Carlson to Bill Maher, Aaron Rodgers to Charles Barkley, no talent should be off limits to platform, hire, or acqui-hire."

Additionally, he urged BuzzFeed to rebuild its brand by apologizing for past media coverage, such as its publication of the Steele Dossier and stories about Hunter Biden and Kevin Spacey. Ramaswamy suggested issuing a statement along these lines:

"We failed in our obligation to tell you the truth. By both omission and commission, we repeatedly lied on issues of national importance, and so did the rest of the media. We echoed easy, politically convenient narratives in pursuit of clicks. We failed to fact-check. We ceased being intellectually curious. We lost sight of fairness. We condemned half the country instead of seeking to understand their views and report them fairly."

Peretti, in his reply, strongly disagreed with Ramaswamy’s suggestions.

"Based on your letter, you have some fundamental misunderstandings about the drivers of our business, the values of our audience, and the mission of the company," Peretti wrote. "I'm very skeptical it makes business sense to turn BuzzFeed into a creator platform for inflammatory political pundits. And we're definitely not going to issue an apology for our Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism."