Reader MP alerted me to Bloomberg's Unmasking the Men Behind Zero Hedge, Wall Street's Renegade Blog (April 29, 2016). I assume DOTE readers are familiar with the site. Colin Lokey was one of the "Tyler Durdens" writing the content. Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) is the well-known character from the cult movie Fight Club.

I'm going to quote only one section of Bloomberg's story.

Profit Motive

Despite holding itself out as a town crier for market angst, transcripts from Zero Hedge internal chat sessions provided by Colin Lokey reveal a focus on Web traffic by the Durdens.

Headlines are debated and a relentless publishing schedule maintained to keep readers sated. Lokey said the emphasis on profit—and what he considered political bias at the site—motivated him to quit.

He pointed to the wealth of the Durdens as a factor. Daniel Ivandjiiski has a multimillion-dollar mansion in Mahwah, N.J., and Tim Backshall lives in a plush San Francisco suburb—not exactly reflections of [Brad] Pitt's anticapitalist icon.

“What you are reading at Zero Hedge is nonsense. And you shouldn’t support it,” Lokey wrote in an e-mail. “Two guys who live a lifestyle you only dream of are pretending to speak for you.”

Lokey adds: “Durden lives in a castle. If you’ve seen Fight Club, you know how ironic that is.”

A former “director of contributor success” at website Seeking Alpha, Lokey said he joined Zero Hedge for $6,000 a month and received an annual bonus of $50,000, earning more than $100,000 last year.

His salary helped pay the rent on a “very nice” condominium on South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island, he said. Despite the compensation, he contends that he left because he disagreed with the site's editorial vision. “Reality checks are great. But Zero Hedge ceased to serve that public service years ago,” Lokey wrote. “They care what generates page views. Clicks. Money.”

Zero Hedge founder Ivandjiiski defended the site, adding that it's designed to be a for-profit entity. “Ultimately, the website makes money, and it’s profitable, which is also why we’ve never had to seek outside funding or any outside money—our only revenue is from advertising, always has been since day one,” he said.

“Obviously, every publisher’s mission is to maximize revenue and page views, and we think that we do it in a way that is appropriate.”