Popular right-wing news site Zero Hedge is in the spotlight today, but not for good reason. This morning, the Associated Press (AP) reported that U.S. officials had accused Zero Hedge of spreading Russian propaganda linked to the Kremlin. Indeed, the officials claimed Zero Hedge has published articles created by Moscow-controlled media. These articles were then shared by various outlets who were unaware of the alleged Russian connection.
Furthermore, the AP reported that some articles on the website were published by people who have connections to the Strategic Culture Foundation (SCF). The SCF allegedly worked with Russia to interfere with the 2020 U.S. election. However, U.S. officials did not go so far as to accuse Zero Hedge of having a direct connection to Russian sources.
What’s Going On With the Latest Zero Hedge News?
In response to the allegations, Zero Hedge published a response titled “Now We’ve Done It: We Pissed Off The CIA.” The response vehemently rejected the claims and explains that Zero Hedge “has never worked, collaborated or cooperated with Russia, nor are there any links to spy agencies.” In addition, the response highlights how there is “no actual accusation” that Zero Hedge worked directly with Russia.
In retaliation to the AP, the conservative news site also posted an article on its Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) account. The article, published by The Guardian, had the title “Revealed: how Associated Press cooperated with the Nazis.”
Zero Hedge has much more influence than you would think. According to SimilarWeb, the news site receives 23.4 million monthly visits on average. On top of that, from February 2021 to Janary 2022, Zero Hedge received a total of 280.9 million visits. That’s no small figure. Furthermore, the news source boasts a popular Twitter account with over 454,000 tweets and 1.2 million followers.
Zero Hedge News: Who Is Daniel Ivandjiiski?
A quick visit to Zero Hedge will reveal a multitude of articles written by Tyler Durden. But the main character in the cult movie “Fight Club” was, of course, not actually doing the writing. Although they founded the site in 2009, the website’s creators were unknown until 2016. Then, ex-Zero Hedge writer Colin Lokey revealed the true identities of the two men behind the popular website in an interview with Bloomberg.
Daniel Ivandjiiski was formerly a Bulgarian hedge fund analyst, while Tim Backshall was a former credit derivatives strategist. Ivandjiiski was banned from the hedge fund industry in 2008 after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) claimed he was involved with insider trading. The regulatory agency claimed that Ivandjiiski made a total of $780 based off of material, non-public information. Shortly after, Ivandjiiski started Zero Hedge under the moniker Tyler Durden.
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
