Outlet profile

Fast Company

U.S. center-left

Owned byMansueto Ventures, a privately held publisher owned by billionaire Joe Mansueto (also founder and executive chairman of Morningstar, Inc.), which also owns Inc. magazine

FundingAdvertising, digital subscriptions, branded content/sponsorships, and revenue from conferences and awards programs (e.g., World Changing Ideas, Most Innovative Companies)

On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

Fast Company was founded in 1995 by Alan Webber and Bill Taylor, former Harvard Business Review editors, as a magazine chronicling the rise of the information economy and new management thinking. It struggled financially in the early 2000s, going through bankruptcy and changing hands several times before Joe Mansueto bought it along with Inc. magazine in 2005, forming Mansueto Ventures. Under Mansueto's ownership, the outlet shifted toward digital-first publishing, design and technology journalism, and franchises like "Most Innovative Companies" and "World Changing Ideas." It has built a reputation for covering workplace culture, sustainability, and corporate diversity initiatives with a generally progressive lens, drawing criticism from conservative commentators who see it as reflexively left-leaning on social issues. In 2022, Fast Company's website was hacked and used to push offensive push notifications, forcing a temporary shutdown. Stephanie Mehta has served as CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures since 2023, overseeing both Fast Company and Inc. The outlet is best characterized as a mainstream business publication with a center-left cultural orientation rather than a hard-news political outlet.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-10-02; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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