Waywire, the small video aggregation website co-founded by Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker and financed by his high-roller friends, is being sold.
The technology news website All Things D reported the news on Sunday, just days before the Wednesday’s special election in New Jersey, in which Booker is vying to take the seat of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) in the U.S. Senate.
According to All Things D, Waywire is being purchased by Magnify, a Web video distributor, and it is “unlikely that the deal placed a high value on Waywire.” Waywire raised $1.75 million in 2012 thanks to Booker’s network of friends and supporters, friends and supporters, including Oprah Winfrey, Google’s Eric Schmidt, and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. But the company struggled to gain traction, and reportedly had to lay off employees and abandon office space in Manhattan.
Booker’s role in Waywire was spotlighted by a front-page New York Times article in August. The company’s CEO resigned later that month, and Booker himself announced in early September he would step down from the company’s board.
According to All Things D, a deal for Booker to donate his stake in the company to charity was finalized last week.
A Waywire spokesperson did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment.
