| Type | Public (NASDAQ: TST) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York, United States |
| Key people |
James Cramer, Co-Founder |
| Industry | Broadcast media |
| Products | Online publishing |
| Website | www.TheStreet.com |
TheStreet, Inc.. (NASDAQ: TST) is an American financial news and services website.
Contents |
TheStreet, Inc. (f/k/a TheStreet.com, Inc.), was co-founded in 1996 by Jim Cramer and Martin Peretz. It is traded on the NASDAQ Global Market. The company is headquartered at 14 Wall Street in New York City. Its stock was made public in May 1999 under the direction of past Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kevin English and former Chief Financial Officer Paul Kothari.[2][3]
Under the direction of Thomas J. Clarke, Jr., TheStreet.com's most recent former chairman and CEO, the company reported its first annual profit in 2005. Jim Cramer became chairman in October 2008.[4] Daryl Otte, a long-time company director, became CEO in May 2009[5] after the abrupt resignation of the former CEO.[6] Otte is the founding partner of Montefiore Partners, a venture capital investment fund management firm, and a former executive at media company Ziff-Davis[7]
Beginning as a single web site, TheStreet.com has since expanded and now also publishes additional consumer Web sites such as MainStreet.com, Stockpickr, and Bankingmyway.com. In addition to news and financial analysis, TheStreet.com also provides subscription investor services such as RealMoney[8] and Action Alerts Plus.[9]
In 2007, TheStreet bought Stockpickr.com,[10] Rate Watch and BankingMyWay.[11] In 2008, TheStreet.com purchased a 13 percent stake in Geezeo.com, the Boston-based online management tool, with an option to purchase the company.[12]
TheStreet's most popular features include: Top 10 Stocks; Jim Cramer's Portfolios of the Week; The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week; Wednesday's Analysts' Upgrades and Downgrades, and Readers' Picks: The Street.com's Top 10. Dave Kansas helped build the news organization from its infancy in September 1996 and became editor-in-chief in April 1997. Kansas also opened a San Francisco bureau and also sat on the board of TheStreet.[13] In July 2001, David J. Morrow, a former New York Times reporter, joined TheStreet as its editor-in-chief upon Kansas's departure. Glenn Hall, a former news manager at Freedom Communications (The Orange County Register) and Bloomberg News, replaced Morrow in August 2009.[5] Chairman Jim Cramer remains one of the company's commentators.
While the TheStreet's most noteworthy personality is Jim Cramer, other contributors include Alix Steel, Adam Feuerstein, and Doug Kass. Alumni include Aaron Task, Dave Kansas, Herb Greenberg, and Brett Arends. Investors have expressed concern for the company's heavy reliance on Jim Cramer according to investing columnist Henry Blodget.[14] Blodget argues TheStreet "has diversified in recent years, and there's plenty of talent aboard." Cramer promotes TheStreet on his TV show Mad Money and is one of the main contributors to TheStreet's paid subscription and free content.
On June 12, 2008, the Arizona Reporter Newswire alleged that TheStreet may have conflicts of interest relating to their subsidiary Promotions.com.[15]
The company launched free Blackberry, iPhone and Android mobile applications.[16] The Blackberry version was mentioned as "Official Honoree" for the Mobile Applications category of the 2009 Webby awards,[17] got an honorable mention in the 2009 "Best of the Web" awards by Min online[18] and together with the iPhone version won the 2008 "Creative Use of Online" award by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW).[19]
In September 2010 TheStreet launched a new mobile optimized website with content from their main flagship freesite, thestreet.com.[20] Users are automatically served the new .mobi site when accessing thestreet.com from a mobile device.
MainStreet.com is an online financial magazine & news site by TheStreet.com, directed toward mainstream America and presupposing a very limited financial knowledge (unlike TheStreet.com). In addition to news, features and articles, Mainstreet.com features consumer reports and investing advice. Users who have trouble engaging with TheStreet.com, because of the terminology and assumed knowledge, tend to find MainStreet.com much more accessible, since it is written for the average layperson who does not have an in-depth understanding of Wall Street..[21]
StockPickr is a financial services site. It was one of the first sites to incorporate both investment ideas as well as social networking. This community, known as the Stock Idea Network, combines insight from professional investors as well as community members. Users are able to share, debate, and otherwise discuss information and ideas related to finance on the site's message boards, which are frequented by financial professionals.[22]
StockPickr was named one of Time.com's 50 best web sites in 2007. There are an estimated 150,000-plus user-generated portfolios, as well as portfolios of professional finance professionals on the site.[22]
BankingMyWay.com is a personal banking and investment site, focused on the individual's finances rather than investments.