What is Snopes' ownership and revenue model?
Executive summary
Snopes is owned and operated under Snopes, Inc., a subsidiary of Snopes Media Group, Inc., which current disclosures say is owned by Chris Richmond (60%) and Drew Schoentrup (40%) after they acquired the company outright in 2022 [1] [2]. The site’s revenue historically has come from programmatic advertising (about 60% of revenue in 2019) and reader contributions; in 2019 Snopes projected “just over $3 million” in revenue and said it was pushing toward a membership/reader-funded model to reduce reliance on advertising [3].
1. Who actually owns Snopes now — and how that changed
Public filings and Snopes’s own disclosures state Snopes.com is published by Snopes, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Snopes Media Group, Inc., and that SMG is owned by Chris Richmond and Drew Schoentrup; Snopes’s disclosure page gives Richmond 60% and Schoentrup 40% [1]. Press releases and contemporaneous coverage say Richmond and Schoentrup acquired 100% of the company in September 2022 and that David Mikkelson stepped down as CEO at that time [2] [4]. Independent profiles such as PitchBook and Tracxn repeat the acquisition and ownership narrative, noting the 2022 change of control [5] [6]. Earlier ownership fights — lawsuits and disputes involving Proper Media and prior shareholders — are well documented in news coverage and court reporting from 2017 onward [7] [8].
2. The revenue mix Snopes has disclosed or discussed publicly
Reporting from 2019 and Snopes’s own commentary show the business relied heavily on programmatic advertising and sought to pivot toward reader-supported revenue. In 2019 Snopes said programmatic ads accounted for roughly 60% of revenue and projected “just over $3 million” in revenue that year; the company announced a membership push to shift the balance toward reader funding [3]. Snopes’s newsletters and internal notes also reference staff growth “revenue permitting,” implying editorial ambitions tied to the budget [9]. Outside aggregator profiles (PitchBook, Crunchbase, CB Insights traces) list funding and headcount figures but do not provide a current audited revenue breakdown [5] [10] [11].
3. Donations, membership and disclosure rules
Multiple secondary accounts and a Snopes review note that Snopes accepts reader donations and has safeguards for large donors: donors who give $10,000 or more (or exceed 5% of annual revenue) are publicly disclosed, and Snopes states it does not accept political advertising and claims advertisers cannot influence editorial staff [12]. That aligns with the site’s stated goal of reducing dependence on programmatic ads and building a membership model; Digiday reported the organization’s explicit intent in 2019 to pivot revenue toward reader contributions [3]. Available sources do not disclose a full, current donor list or a recent audited financial statement showing donor vs. ad revenue percentages.
4. Historical disputes that affect trust and context
Snopes’s ownership and revenue story cannot be separated from prior legal and editorial controversies. The 2017–2022 ownership dispute with Proper Media and other parties is well documented and led to lawsuits and interruptions in ad revenue flow; court filings and reporting accused various parties of concealment and corporate maneuvering [7] [8]. Editorially, Snopes has acknowledged past plagiarism by its founder (reported by AP in 2021), a fact that shaped staff relations and governance questions [13]. These episodes explain why Snopes has put emphasis on formal disclosures and a clearer ownership statement on its disclosures page [1] [13].
5. What independent data sources confirm — and what they don’t
Commercial databases and business profiles (PitchBook, Tracxn, Crunchbase, CB Insights) confirm Snopes’s acquisition history, give headcount and fundraising summaries, and repeat that Richmond and Schoentrup are the acquirers — but they do not provide a public, audited revenue statement or up‑to‑date breakdown of revenue streams [5] [6] [11] [10]. Digiday’s 2019 reporting is the clearest public statement on revenue mix and the $3 million projection; later internal Snopes communications indicate ongoing efforts to grow reader revenue but do not publish a current top-line figure [3] [9]. Available sources do not mention a recent, independently audited annual report that would fully validate current revenue splits.
6. Competing viewpoints and implications for readers
Snopes presents itself as independent and transparent about ownership; its disclosure page names majority/minority stakes and owners [1]. Critics and court filings — and long-running reporting about the Proper Media dispute — argue the site’s past entanglements with ad-management firms and ownership conflict undermined transparency and at times revenue streams [7] [8]. Observers who rely on Snopes should weigh the company’s stated editorial protections (no political advertising, donor disclosure thresholds) against the documented history of disputes and the lack of a current public audited financial statement in available reporting [12] [7].
Limitations: available sources do not provide a full, current audited revenue statement or an up-to-date public breakdown of 2024–2025 revenue by channel beyond the historic 2019 figures and Snopes’s internal commentary (not found in current reporting).