The Disinformation Hunter: 5 Shocking Facts About Ben Collins, The Onion's New CEO
The Onion, the world's most trusted source of fake news, is undergoing a dramatic and fascinating transformation, and the man at the helm is perhaps its most ironic leader yet. As of late 2025, the Chief Executive Officer is Ben Collins, a former NBC News political disinformation reporter whose career was built on fighting the very misinformation The Onion masterfully parodies. This unexpected shift in leadership, following the satirical giant's 2024 acquisition by the newly formed entity Global Tetrahedron, has injected a fresh, critically relevant perspective into the 36-year-old institution.
This article dives deep into the profile of Ben Collins, the new corporate structure, and the high-stakes, real-world satire he is orchestrating, including the publication's fervent war against Artificial Intelligence and its very public, tongue-in-cheek campaign to acquire the infamous conspiracy platform, InfoWars. The new era for The Onion is defined by a leader who understands the mechanics of "fake news" better than anyone, positioning the satire brand as a bizarrely essential voice in the modern media landscape.
Ben Collins: A Biography of The Onion's CEO
The transition of Ben Collins from a serious investigative journalist to the CEO of a major satirical publication is one of the most compelling media stories of the last few years. His background provides a unique lens through which to view the current media environment, blending the hard realities of political disinformation with the absurdities of world-class satire.
- Full Name: Ben Collins
- Current Role: CEO of The Onion and CEO of Global Tetrahedron
- Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Education: Attended Emerson College in Boston, where he first became an avid reader of The Onion.
- Previous Career Highlights:
- Political Disinformation Reporter for NBC News.
- Held previous roles at The Daily Beast and Hulu.
- Acquisition of The Onion: In April 2024, Collins and a group of associates, under the banner of the newly created firm Global Tetrahedron, purchased The Onion from G/O Media.
- Key Initiative: Revival of The Onion's print edition.
- Current Stance: Fervently and hardcore against the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for joke writing.
The Global Tetrahedron Acquisition: A Corporate Satire
The sale of The Onion in April 2024 marked a significant turning point, ending its ownership by the private equity-backed G/O Media. The new parent company is named Global Tetrahedron, a deep-cut reference to a fictional, shadowy corporate entity from The Onion's own 1999 satirical book, Our Dumb Century, which also featured the fictional Publisher Emeritus, T. Herman Zweibel. This move was pure, self-referential satire, a perfect blend of corporate reality and editorial absurdity.
The purchase was spearheaded by Collins and a team of investors, including former Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson. The narrative surrounding the sale was that it was a rescue mission, a move to wrest the publication back into the hands of people who deeply understood its mission and culture, away from the corporate structures that had overseen its sister publications like The A.V. Club and ClickHole (which was later sold off).
This restructuring was not just a business transaction; it was a statement. By naming the parent company after one of their own jokes, the new leadership, under Collins, immediately signaled a renewed commitment to the publication's core identity. It was a strategic move to re-establish topical authority and editorial independence in an age where the line between real and fake news is increasingly blurred.
The War on Disinformation: From NBC to Satire
Ben Collins's professional pivot from a political disinformation reporter to a satire CEO is the core paradox of his tenure. His previous role at NBC News involved tracking and debunking online conspiracies and misinformation, a field that gave him an unparalleled understanding of how "fake news" is created, consumed, and weaponized. Now, he is the steward of a publication that is deliberately and artfully crafting its own brand of fake news.
This background is not a contradiction, but rather a qualification. Collins brings a new level of meta-commentary to the satire. He views The Onion as a necessary tool for speaking truth to power, arguing that good satire is more vital than ever in an era where democracy is challenged by manufactured lies. The publication's jokes are now informed by a deep, professional knowledge of the propaganda machine, allowing the satire to hit with surgical precision.
The satirical pursuit of buying InfoWars, the conspiracy platform founded by Alex Jones, is the most public example of Collins's vision. This campaign, which has been consistently covered in the media, is a masterful piece of performance art. It uses the legal and financial struggles of a real-world disinformation entity (InfoWars) as the subject of a prolonged, hilarious, and deeply relevant satirical storyline.
Ben Collins's Stance on AI and The Future of Satire
One of the most pressing issues Collins has addressed is the threat of Artificial Intelligence to the craft of comedy and satire. He has taken a firm, public stance against the use of AI tools for generating The Onion's content. In his view, the very nature of effective satire—which requires human insight, cultural context, and a deep understanding of irony—cannot be replicated by algorithms.
Collins argues that The Onion is "fervently and hardcore against AI in every way," seeing it as a threat to the unique, human-centric humor that has been the publication's hallmark since its founding by University of Wisconsin-Madison undergraduates Tim Keck and Christopher Johnson in 1988. This anti-AI position is not just about protecting jobs; it is a philosophical defense of what makes the satire work: the human element of shared absurdity.
Under his leadership, The Onion is doubling down on its traditional roots while expanding its digital footprint. The revival of the print edition, a tangible, old-school medium, is a nostalgic yet strategic move to solidify its brand identity against the backdrop of an increasingly digital and AI-driven media environment. By focusing on high-quality, human-written satire and leveraging his expertise on disinformation, Ben Collins is not just running a media company; he is directing a crucial cultural commentary on the nature of truth itself in the 21st century.
The future of The Onion, with a former disinformation reporter at the helm of Global Tetrahedron, promises a new golden age of satire—one where the absurdity of the headlines is matched only by the absurdity of the real-world news they are designed to mock. The publication, which also includes the sister publication The A.V. Club, is poised to continue its legacy as an essential, if fictional, voice in modern journalism.
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