Guess How Much Glenn Greenwald Is Estimated to Rake In Each Year From Substack?

Marisa SarnoffMar 31st, 2021, 5:40 pm
 

Glenn Greenwald

Spoiler alert: it’s a lot.

Glenn Greenwald, the Intercept co-founder who resigned after accusing the news outlet of censorship, makes between $80,000 and $160,000 every month in subscriptions to his wildly popular Substack newsletter, according to an estimate from the Financial Times.

In a story about Substack’s latest round of fundraising and its chances of ongoing success, reporter Jemima Kelly noted that “some of its biggest names are making out like bandits.”

Greenwald “has between 20,000 and 40,000 paid subscribers to his newsletter, each contributing at least $5 a month,” Kelly wrote. “Once Substack has taken its standard 10 per cent cut, and after payment processing fees, I calculate that Greenwald is left with between $80,000 and $160,000 a month, or about $1m to $2m a year.”

Greenwald apparently confirmed the numbers to Kelly.

“It’s a lot,” Greenwald told Kelly. “It’s obviously way more money than I’ve ever made in journalism before, or than I ever thought I would make.”

Greenwald puts around 10% of his writing behind a paywall, according to the Financial Times report, and even that is made available to everyone within 24 hours. Greenwald said that for his subscribers, it’s more about supporting Greenwald’s voice than paying for exclusive content.

“They’re not paying because they’re getting something in return,” Greenwald said. “They’re paying because they want to support journalism that they think … needs to be heard.”

In October 2020, Greenwald left The Intercept after penning a resignation letter that accused the publication of “repression, censorship, and ideological homogeneity.” Greenwald said the outlet refused to publish an article he wrote that was critical about Joe Biden, “the candidate vehemently supported by all New-York-based Intercept editors involved in this effort at suppression.”

Substack announced Tuesday that it would bring in $65 million from investors in its latest round of fundraising, led by VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, which will reportedly value Substack at around $650 million.

Responding to reactions the Financial Times report garnered, Greenwald tweeted, “Since this is already leading to another outburst of misery-and-envy-driven attempts by media cretins to malign my work, I really think that any journalist that wants to demean another person’s journalism should be prepared to show how theirs is better.”

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