Breitbart News Network

The Breitbart News Network, also known as just Breitbart News, is a right-of-center news and opinion media outlet. Journalist, technology entrepreneur, and conservative activist Andrew Breitbart founded the outlet in 2007 with Larry Solov and led it until his death in 2012. 1 2

Read More

At-A-Glance

Type: For-profit
Ideological Alignment: Right of Center
Formation:

2007

Founder:

Andrew Breitbart

Contents

    Founding

    Andrew Breitbart began working in media as a researcher for Ariana Huffington in 1997 and later helped her to establish the Huffington Post media outlet. He also previously worked for Matt Drudge, founder of the Drudge Report.  2

    Breitbart and his friend Larry Solov came up with the idea for Breitbart News while on a trip to Israel. 1

    Breitbart News began in a basement in Westwood, California, with a group of young employees. The site was initially a news aggregator, republishing and summarizing news stories that ran on other websites. It expanded to original reporting and commentary. 3

    Andrew Breitbart was chairman and CEO of the Breitbart News Network, founded in 2007, until he died in 2012.  2

    In 2011, right-of-center philanthropist Robert Mercer, funder of the Mercer Family Foundation, donated about $11 million to Breitbart to boost the company’s growth. 4

    Breitbart News broke major stories early on regarding potential corruption with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and on a sexting scandal involving then-U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY). 5

    After Andrew Breitbart’s death, family members, several friends, and colleagues helped to keep the website going.  2 Steve Bannon became the chairman of Breitbart News after Breitbart’s death, but left in 2016 to join the presidential campaign of Donald Trump. After Trump was elected, Bannon became a senior advisor in the Trump White House. However, he was ousted from the White House and returned as executive chairman of Breitbart. By early 2018, after a public rift with President Trump, Bannon stepped down from Breitbart News. 6

    Breitbart News has correspondents in D.C., Los Angeles, London, Jerusalem, and Rome.  1

    Controversies

    In 2016, then-Breitbart News editor-at-large Ben Shapiro resigned after an alleged altercation between Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields and Donald Trump 2016 campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Fields also resigned.  7

    Shapiro argued, “Lewandowski and Trump maligned Michelle,” and said Breitbart News “attempted to abandon Michelle.” He added, “Andrew’s life mission has been betrayed. Indeed, Breitbart News, under the chairmanship of Steve Bannon, has put a stake through the heart of Andrew’s legacy.” He said that Bannon “has shaped the company into Trump’s personal Pravda.” 8

    Many left-of-center mainstream media outlets characterized Breitbart as being affiliated with the alt-right extremist movement, largely because it previously employed provocative commentator Milo Yiannopoulos. 9 Yiannopoulos resigned in 2017 after critics surfaced comments he had made that The Hill characterized as “appear[ing] to defend pedophilia.” 10

    Personnel

    Alexander Marlow is the editor-in-chief at Breitbart. 11

    Ezra Dulis is the senior editor.  11

    Noah Dulis is the deputy editor.  11

    Rebecca Mansour is a senior editor-at-large.  11

    Peter Schweizer is a senior contributor.  11

    Matthew Boyle is the Washington bureau chief.  11

    Oliver Lane is the Europe editor and London bureau chief.  11

    Frances Martel is the world editor.  11

    Lauren Veneziani is the advertising director.  11

    Elizabeth Moore is the vice president of PR and communications.  11

    Contact InfluenceWatch to report errors, suggest edits, or provide tips for additional profiles.

    Contact Us

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. “Breitbart News Network LLC.” Legistorm. Accessed May 20, 2026. https://www.legistorm.com/organization/summary/172254/Breitbart_News_Network_LLC.html 
    2. “Breitbart News.” Ballotpedia. Accessed May 20, 2026. https://ballotpedia.org/Breitbart_News 
    3. Ng, David. “Inside Breitbart’s Westside L.A. headquarters, they’ve got plans for global expansion.” Los Angeles Times. November 18, 2016. Accessed May 20, 2026. https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-breitbart-news-20161116-story.html 
    4. Kutner, Max. “Meet Robert Mercer, the Mysterious Billionaire Benefactor of Breitbart.” Newsweek. November 21, 2016. Accessed May 21, 2026. https://www.newsweek.com/2016/12/02/robert-mercer-trump-donor-bannon-pac-523366.html 
    5. Rainey, James. “Breitbart.com sets sights on ruling the conservative conversation.” Los Angeles Times. August 1, 2012. Accessed May 21, 2026. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2012-aug-01-la-et-breitbart-20120801-story.html 
    6. “Bannon to step down from Breitbart News Network after public break with Trump.” PBS. January 9, 2018. Accessed May 20, 2026. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/bannon-to-step-down-from-breitbart-news-network-after-public-break-with-trump 
    7. Guest, Steve. “Breitbart’s Michelle Fields And Ben Shapiro Resign.” Daily Caller. March 14, 2016. Accessed May 20, 2026. https://dailycaller.com/2016/03/14/breitbarts-michelle-fields-and-ben-shapiro-resign/ 
    8. Guest, Steve. “Breitbart’s Michelle Fields and Ben Shapiro Resign.” Daily Caller. March 14, 2016. Accessed May 20, 2026. https://dailycaller.com/2016/03/14/breitbarts-michelle-fields-and-ben-shapiro-resign/ 
    9. Week Staff. “The Rise of the Alt Right.” The Week. October 1, 2016. Accessed May 21, 2026. https://theweek.com/articles/651929/rise-altright 
    10. Hagan, Lisa. “Yiannopoulos resigns from Breitbart.” The Hill. February 21, 2017. Accessed May 21, 2026. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/320495-yiannopoulos-resigns-from-breitbart/ 
    11. “Masthead.” Breitbart News. Accessed May 20, 2026. https://www.breitbart.com/masthead/