Media ownership shapes what you read every day. If you’re getting your daily news from 1440, you’re part of a community that has grown from 78 subscribers to over 4 million readers since 2017. That kind of growth—exceeding 5,500%—makes 1440 the fourth fastest-growing private company in the Midwest and No. 79 on the 2023 Inc. 5000 list.
But who’s actually behind the newsletter landing in your inbox?
1440 News operates as an independent, employee-owned media company. The name itself tells a story: 1440 represents both the minutes in a day and the year the printing press was invented. Founded by Tim Huelskamp, Andrew Steigerwald, and Pierre Lipton, the company generates over 95% of its revenue from advertisements, with reader donations making up the remainder.
Here’s why this matters. When you understand who funds your news sources, you can better evaluate the information you’re consuming. With 1440’s editorial team reviewing dozens of articles before curating each topic, their process affects what reaches over 1 billion emails and 600 million opens.
You’ll learn who’s behind 1440 News, how their ownership structure works, where their funding comes from, and why these details matter for your daily news consumption. This transparency becomes essential when a company’s financial model could influence the content you rely on for staying informed.
Who owns 1440 News in 2025?
1440 News operates under an employee-owned structure where the three founders hold the largest stakes. This ownership model has remained consistent since 2017, balancing founder control with employee investment throughout the company’s growth.
The founding team drives daily operations
Tim Huelskamp serves as CEO, bringing 11 years of private equity experience to the role. Andrew Steigerwald handles Editor-in-Chief responsibilities, applying his scientific background to the company’s fact-driven approach. Steigerwald writes approximately 85% of the daily newsletter, including the Science & Technology and Politics & World Affairs sections.
Pierre Lipton rounds out the leadership trio as COO, managing monetization, analytics, and PR duties. His work earned recognition on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list.
Employee ownership extends beyond founders
The company has grown to approximately 25 editors, experts, and analysts as of March 2024.
Key executives hold minority ownership stakes, including:
- Aaron Enequist-Leiker (Head of Product and Design)
- Lauren Routt (Head of Social)
- Mike Rome (Chief Growth Officer)
- Amanda Black (Director of Brand Partnerships)
- Sony Kassam (Chief Content Officer)
- Mitchell Kapoor (VP of Product and Growth)
The team includes Deputy Editor Julie Alvin (formerly of theSkimm), Head of Growth Erika Burghardt, and newsletter writer Alissa Smith, who joined during recent expansion.
External investors hold minority positions
Despite the employee-owned structure, 1440 has secured over $2.5 million in external funding. Cannon Capital and MassChallenge serve as the primary investors. This venture capital backing has fueled growth while allowing founders and employees to maintain controlling interest and editorial independence.
How 1440 News makes money
Advertising drives 1440’s business model. According to co-founder Andrew Steigerwald, more than 95% of revenue comes from advertisements, with reader donations making up the small remainder.
Advertising as the primary revenue source
CEO Tim Huelskamp calls their approach a “flywheel”—create quality newsletters, monetize through ads, then reinvest profits to grow subscribers. The company charges advertisers a combined CPM (cost per thousand impressions) of approximately $50. This breaks down to $40 for the larger ad format at the top of newsletters and $10 for the smaller format readers see when scrolling.
The math is straightforward. “When someone opens an email, we make about a nickel,” Huelskamp explains. “We send 25 emails a month-ish. We have the highest open-rate in the space, 60%. So they’re opening 15 emails a month. At five cents, [that adds up to] 70-ish cents per user per month”.
This model generates over $1 million in revenue per employee. With approximately 15 employees, the company appears on track for more than $15 million in annual revenue.
Reader donations and affiliate marketing
Reader donations provide less than 5% of total revenue. The newsletter also includes occasional affiliate links, particularly in lifestyle or product sections, earning small commissions when readers make purchases.
Sponsored content and brand partnerships
Each newsletter contains exactly two advertisements from vetted, trusted brands. These partnerships target what 1440 calls “intellectually curious individuals”—their 4 million subscribers split evenly across political lines: 33% lean left, 33% are independents, and 33% lean right.
Flagship sponsorships command around $100,000 per day. The company recently launched “Topics,” a feature that lets 1440 “monetize these readers twice” by directing clicks to their owned properties, enabling more expensive sponsorship packages.
Editorial process and the claim of being unbiased
1440 News calls itself unbiased, but that claim needs a closer look. The newsletter doesn’t produce original journalism. Instead, the team curates content from other sources, summarizing stories and linking to the original publishers.
Andrew Steigerwald describes this approach as going “an inch deep and a mile wide”. Each edition contains approximately 40 links to external sources, covering politics, business, science, culture, and health.
Curation over original reporting
This curation model shapes everything about how 1440 operates. The editorial team examines dozens of articles on each topic before deciding which links to include. Their standards emphasize “consequential news only” and promise “facts and action, not just words”. They avoid speculative stories, focusing on news with “significant impact on people, places, or communities”.
All content undergoes editing and fact-checking before publication. The “Topics” pages aggregate material from various publishers alongside content created by 1440’s team.
The reality behind “unbiased” claims
Here’s where things get complicated. Critics point out inherent contradictions in any claim of being unbiased. Gary Schwitzer notes that “at the outset, you should question a claim of no bias. We all have biases”. Even Steigerwald acknowledged that the team makes a “subjective assessment” when selecting which links to include.
Despite claiming to avoid opinion-based stories, 1440 has linked to clearly opinionated sources. The lack of transparency about who specifically makes editorial decisions raises additional questions about their unbiased reporting claims.
What this means for you
When you read 1440, you’re getting curated content filtered through editorial choices. Those choices—which sources to include, which stories to highlight, which links to embed—all involve subjective decisions that can introduce bias, regardless of intentions.
Understanding this process helps you evaluate what you’re reading and why certain stories make it into your inbox while others don’t.
Why ownership and funding matter to your news consumption
Who owns 1440 News affects what you read every day. When media ownership becomes concentrated, the potential for bias and agenda-setting grows substantially.
Editorial independence and owner influence
Media ownership influences editorial independence in ways you might not expect. Research shows owners can exert pressure through direct intervention or by encouraging self-censorship among journalists and editors. A 2006 Roy Morgan survey found that over 37% of media workers had been instructed to “toe the commercial line” and consider their employer’s political position.
The hierarchical structure in most media organizations can disempower editors who should be deciding what content reaches you. This creates a chain of influence that ultimately shapes the news in your inbox.
Trust requires transparency
You can better assess news impartiality when you know who controls the outlet. Clear ownership information helps reveal potential conflicts of interest. Outlets that display full ownership details tend to promote greater trust among readers.
But trust in media remains low. A 2020 Pew Research Center survey revealed that no more than half of Americans had confidence in journalists to act in the public’s best interests. The public was more likely to believe that news organizations don’t care about the people they report on.
How funding shapes content decisions
The way 1440 News makes money fundamentally shapes what stories get covered. Research indicates that foundation funding often encourages journalists to focus on relatively narrow topics that align with funders’ priorities. This can shape news to cater to niche, specialized audiences rather than covering general mainstream topics.
Conflicts of interest become more likely when media owners have business or political ties that influence editorial decisions. Consider this: 92% of nonprofit news organizations reported that funders never saw editorial content prior to publication—meaning 8% might allow such preview.
For 1440 News, their employee ownership combined with venture capital backing creates a specific framework you should consider when evaluating their “unbiased” label. Understanding these relationships helps you properly evaluate the information you consume.
What 1440’s ownership means for your news consumption
1440 News operates as an employee-owned company, with founders Tim Huelskamp, Andrew Steigerwald, and Pierre Lipton maintaining the largest stakes alongside minority venture capital investments from Cannon Capital and MassChallenge.
Here’s what you need to know about how this affects the news you’re reading.
Their business model centers on advertising revenue—about 95% of total income—with each email open generating roughly five cents. This creates a revenue stream that reportedly exceeds $1 million per employee annually. The editorial approach focuses on curation rather than original reporting, using what they call an “inch deep, mile wide” strategy.
The employee ownership structure potentially offers more editorial independence than conglomerate-owned outlets. But their advertising dependence and subjective source selection still create opportunities for bias, despite their claims of neutrality.
Understanding who funds your news sources helps you evaluate the information you consume daily. When a company’s financial model relies heavily on advertising, that relationship can influence editorial decisions. The employee-owned structure doesn’t eliminate this dynamic—it just changes how it operates.
Media literacy means looking beyond what you read to understand who provides it and why. With 1440’s rapid growth from 78 subscribers to over 4 million readers, their influence on how people consume news continues expanding.
Now that you understand 1440’s ownership structure and funding model, you can make more informed decisions about how to incorporate their content into your news consumption. This knowledge applies to any news source you rely on—the key is approaching media with awareness of how financial interests shape editorial choices.
FAQs
Q1. Is 1440 News truly unbiased in its reporting?
While 1440 News aims to provide unbiased news, it’s important to note that their content is curated rather than originally reported. The editorial team selects sources and summarizes stories, which inherently involves some level of subjective decision-making. Readers should approach the content with critical awareness and consider multiple perspectives.
Q2. How does 1440 News make money?
1440 News generates approximately 95% of its revenue through advertising. They charge advertisers based on email opens, with each opened email generating about five cents. The remaining revenue comes from reader donations and occasional affiliate marketing.
Q3. Who owns 1440 News?
1440 News is primarily an employee-owned media company. The three co-founders – Tim Huelskamp, Andrew Steigerwald, and Pierre Lipton – hold the largest stakes. Other employees also have ownership roles, and there are minority investments from venture capital firms.
Q4. How many subscribers does 1440 News have?
As of 2025, 1440 News has grown to over 4 million daily readers. This represents significant growth from their initial 78 subscribers in 2017, making them one of the fastest-growing private companies in the Midwest.
Q5. Does 1440 News sell subscribers’ personal information?
1440 News states that they do not sell subscribers’ personal information. They offer users the right to opt out of any “sales” of personal information, though they clarify that no such sales occur in their business model.