A Former MSNBC Host, Carlos Watson, Is Convicted of Fraud Over Ozy Media, Buzzy Startup That Was All a Lie

The founder of Ozy Media, Carlos Watson, was convicted of fraud Tuesday in a case where he was found to have lied to investors about his company’s finances and fake deals with Google and Oprah Winfrey. He faces as many as 37 years in prison, but is unlikely to get a sentence that long.Watson, a former host at MSNBC and former member of NPR’s board of directors, was convicted in the Eastern District of New York for supplying false information about his company’s finances and audience size to investors, as well as for making fake earnings projections and lying about contracts.Watson, an ebullient self-promoter known for his connections and fundraising skills, founded Ozy Media in 2013 as a digital magazine and daily newsletter focused on telling optimistic stories for a younger audiences. The company raised more than $5 million in funding in its first year, with major backing from the billionaire widow of Apple’s Steve Jobs, Laurene Paul Jobs. For years, California-based Ozy boasted of huge traffic numbers for its sunny news coverage. Yet Ozy continued to raise money at a record clip, and also held buzzy events with A-list talent and guests such as Presidents Clinton and Biden.Backers, including billionaire Marc Lasry and a prominent investor, Ron Conway, poured millions of dollars into the company.The company collapsed in 2021 after a New York Times investigation found that its traffic reports and other business metrics were grossly overstated and, more seriously, that one of Watson’s senior executives had impersonated a YouTube executive during a call with bankers from Goldman Sachs, who Ozy was pitching for an investment.Watson pleaded not guilty in the case, which lasted six weeks and saw Watson take the stand and deny his involvement in the scheme to defraud investors. His attorneys argued that exaggeration, puffery, and “fake it ‘til you make it” were standard practice in the digital startup space.However, prosecutors said that chat logs had shown that Watson had coached his company executive, Samir Rao, on what to say during the impersonation of the YouTube executive. Watson had claimed Mr. Rao was having a mental health episode when he impersonated the executive and that Mr. Rao needed to be treated with compassion.Mr. Rao, Ozy’s former chief operating officer and, like Watson, a Harvard graduate, pleaded guilty to various charges last year. Watson’s former chief of staff, Suzee Han, also pleaded guilty. Both former executives are cooperating with the government.The Brooklyn trial saw testimony from a YouTube executive, Alex Piper, and Google’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai, who testified that they never had any deals with Ozy nor considered purchasing the company.

A Former MSNBC Host, Carlos Watson, Is Convicted of Fraud Over Ozy Media, Buzzy Startup That Was All a Lie

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