No-Frills Drudge Report Is Worth a Fortune

Whatever your opinion of Matt Drudge's news sensibilities, it's time he got his due as "arguably the single-most powerful individual in the digital news business," writes Henry Blodget at Business Insider. His Drudge Report may look simple, but Blodget figures it's worth somewhere between $150 million and $375 million, which is all the more jaw-dropping when you consider that Drudge produces it nearly single-handedly.

It just passed the milestone of 1 billion pageviews a month, thanks to its 14.4 million monthly readers in the US—figures that put it on par with the New York Times (which has a wee bit bigger staff) as a digital media property. In fact, all those clicks mean Drudge could be pulling in up to $15 million in after-tax profit a year. Even his critics should acknowledge that Drudge "has created one of the most innovative, successful, and profitable digital media businesses on the planet." Read the full piece here.