Mic Staff 'Blindsided' By Mass Layoffs Ahead of Sale (UPDATED)

Mic, the millennial-focused digital news site, laid off most of its editorial staff on Thursday morning as the company’s top brass works to finalize a sale to Bustle Digital Group, Recode first reported.

According to the site, the company’s CEO, Chris Altchek, announced the mass layoffs at a staff meeting this morning. Altchek and co-founder Jake Horowitz would get to stay on after that acquisition, Recode reported.

Mic, which gambled big on an ultimately unsuccessful deal to create a video series with Facebook, had employed more than 100 staffers before the cuts.

Update, 11:06 a.m. ET: A Mic staffer with the video team told Splinter that “effectively everyone” at the site has been laid off, with only a “very, very small” number of staffers with the business and sales teams staying on for the transition to new ownership.

The staffer said all his colleagues were in the process of backing up their work and packing up their desks before their accounts and their credentials at Mic’s two-floor office at One World Trade Center are deactivated at 2 p.m. today.

“Mic staff was just blindsided,” the staffer said. “The extent of the damage, no one could’ve predicted.”

Update, 11:28 a.m. ET: Editorial staffers were tweeting about their departures from the company.

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