AUSTIN RIEF
Co-founded Morning Brew, the daily business newsletter that reached 4 million subscribers and sold a majority stake for $75 million.
Austin Rief co-founded Morning Brew as a college sophomore because he thought the Wall Street Journal was too boring for his generation. He was right. The newsletter grew to 4 million subscribers by making business news actually fun to read, then sold a majority stake to Business Insider's parent company for $75 million. He turned an email newsletter into a media company before most publishers figured out that email was the platform they should have been building on all along.
Net Worth
$50 million
Nationality
American
Time Horizon
Long-Term
Risk Appetite
6 / 10
CAREER & BACKGROUND
Born in 1995. Grew up in Michigan.
Co-founded Morning Brew with Alex Lieberman in 2015 while both were students at the University of Michigan. The idea was simple: a daily email newsletter that made business news accessible and entertaining for millennials who found traditional business media dry and intimidating.
Rief handled the business operations while Lieberman focused on content. Morning Brew grew through a referral program that rewarded readers for sharing — eventually reaching 4 million daily subscribers.
In 2020, Insider Inc. (Business Insider's parent company) acquired a majority stake in Morning Brew for $75 million.
Both founders stayed on to continue growing the brand. Morning Brew expanded into podcasts, YouTube, social media content, and vertical newsletters covering marketing, retail, fintech, and more.
COMPANIES & ROLES
Co-founder of Morning Brew (2015). COO of Morning Brew.
Majority stake sold to Insider Inc. for $75 million (2020).
4+ million daily newsletter subscribers. Expanded into podcasts, video, and vertical content.
INVESTING STYLE & PHILOSOPHY
Not a public markets investor. Rief is a media entrepreneur who built a business around content distribution and audience monetization.
His "investing" thesis was that email newsletters could be more valuable than websites — a bet that has been proven spectacularly right.
THE PLAYBOOK
Risk Approach
Moderate. Starting a newsletter in college was a low-capital risk.
But building it into a media company and negotiating a $75 million exit required significant career risk — he could have pursued a traditional finance career instead.
Money Habits
Based in New York City. Young and relatively low-key compared to other media founders.
Lives a comfortable but not extravagant lifestyle. Known for being operationally focused — he runs the business side while Lieberman is the content face.
BIGGEST WIN
The $75 million exit. Selling a majority stake in a newsletter that cost almost nothing to start for $75 million was one of the best returns-on-capital in media history.
The two founders built Morning Brew with virtually no funding.
BIGGEST MISTAKE
Some critics argue that selling a majority stake too early left money on the table. Morning Brew has continued to grow post-acquisition, and a full sale or IPO later might have yielded more.
But $75 million for a college email project is hard to criticize.
FINANCIAL PHILOSOPHY
Own your audience. Rief has said that the key insight behind Morning Brew is that email subscribers are more valuable than website visitors because you own the relationship.
Social media algorithms change. Email inboxes don't.
FAMILY & PERSONAL LIFE
Based in New York. Co-founder relationship with Alex Lieberman has been publicly smooth — rare for co-founder dynamics.
Private about personal life.
EDUCATION
University of Michigan (Business degree). Co-founded Morning Brew as a sophomore.
The Michigan business school network was instrumental in early subscriber growth.
BOOKS & RESOURCES
The viral marketing framework that powered Morning Brew's referral system
The network effects of content distribution
Why some ideas survive and others don't
As an Amazon Associate, Netfigo earns from qualifying purchases. Book links above may be affiliate links.
QUOTES (5)
We sold a majority stake for $75 million. The newsletter cost us essentially nothing to start. That's the best ROI I'll ever see.
The referral program built Morning Brew. We gave people a reason to share — real rewards for real growth.
You don't need venture capital to build a media company. You need a good product and a distribution strategy.
We started Morning Brew because the Wall Street Journal was too boring for our generation. Turns out millions of people agreed.
Email is the most undervalued platform in media. You own the relationship. No algorithm can take your audience away.
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