Asheville employees fret over future with sale of Everyday Health

Share
Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

  • 1

Some Asheville-based employees of the online health care information and marketing company Everyday Health are worried about their jobs as online giant Ziff Davis prepares to buy the company. The sale completed today.

Two years ago, New York-based Everyday Health acquired Asheville start-up DoctorDirectory for $65 million. It was thought to be the biggest tech company deal of its kind in Western North Carolina when it was announced in 2014.  DoctorDirectory employed 80 people in downtown Asheville at the time. Another 20 or so employee were expected to be hired following that acquisition.

In late October of this year, Everyday Health announced that it had entered into a “definitive merger agreement” with Ziff Davis, which was looking to diversify its digital offerings. Everyday Health markets pharmaceuticals to doctors through email contact and online web content creation, where it also reaches consumers. The cost of the acquisition was estimated to be approximately $465 million.

In early October, seven local employees working on market research for Everyday Health were laid off, according to one employee who asked not to be named for fear that they could lose their job. Other employees were left wondering if they would have jobs after the Ziff Davis purchase.

“We’re just trying to find out about our jobs,” the employee said.

“It’s a huge story for Asheville in the sense that it was biggest tech deal for Asheville at the time and the company continues to grow, but nobody knows how many jobs will be taken out of Asheville,” the employee said.

Everyday Health was founded in 2002 by CEO Ben Wolin and Mike Keriakos. The company says it reaches 50 million consumers each month and more than 700,000 healthcare professionals.

Tags::
Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

  • 1

You Might also Like

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Stories