FiveThirtyEight, the political analysis site created by stats guru Nate Silver, is shutting down, according to a report. Sources told the Wall Street Journal that some 200 staff layoffs are expected at Disney’s ABC News Group—which rebranded the site 538 and cut most of its staff two years ago—and Disney Entertainment Networks unit. The cuts will reportedly include the 15 or so employees remaining at the site, which Silver founded in 2008. “Oh geez, I just saw the news about 538,” he wrote on X Wednesday. “My heart goes out to the people there. They were tremendously hard-working and produced a lot of extremely valuable data and insight for everyone who wants to understand politics better. They deserved much better.” Silver left the famed politics, economics, and sports analysis website in 2023, taking his data model with him to his own site, Silver Bulletin, while ABC kept the brand name.
Oh geez, I just saw the news about 538. My heart goes out to the people there. They were tremendously hard-working and produced a lot of extremely valuable data and insight for everyone who wants to understand politics better. They deserved much better.
