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Semafornication

Ben and Justin’s recent fundraise at an 8x trailing revenue multiple, which follows David Ellison’s extravagant purchase of The Free Press, suggests we’ve entered a new era of digital media valuations. Unless we’ve just reentered the old one. Anyway, is Punchbowl next in line?

Ben Smith, Justin Smith Semaphor
Earlier this week, Semafor co-founders Justin Smith and Ben Smith whispered into The Wall Street Journal that they’d raised $30 million at a $330 million post-money valuation—a staggering 8x multiple on trailing revenue for the events-driven media company that has now raised approximately $70 million to $75 million to date. Photo: Shannon Finney/Getty Images for Semafor
Dylan Byers
January 9, 2026

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Last March, on the same day the news broke that private equity mogul Bill Chisholm had agreed to pay a then-record-setting $6.1 billion to acquire the Boston Celtics, I happened to find myself in the company of one of the National Football League’s 32 franchise owners. (AFC West, for those wondering…) In light of the day’s news, I asked him whether he thought the Celtics were actually worth all that cash. “I don’t know,” he replied with a smile. “But what I do know is, it’s great for us!”