Digiday DealBook: Truth Social acquisition extended, Lyft’s new media division, Axios bought by Cox and more

Welcome to Digiday’s DealBook. Our focus is to create a quick and easy rundown of the deals, acquisitions and hires that took place last week. The goal is to inform and update you on the latest happenings in the industry at the top of your inbox each Monday.  — Carly Weihe

• If Twitter reveals the number of bot accounts it has, Elon Musk says he will move forward with acquiring the company. Twitter still maintains that only 5% of its accounts are fake and did not comment following Musk’s statement. In anticipation of the deal, Musk sold nearly $7 billion worth of Tesla shares to finance the deal.
• Digital World Acquisition Corp. announced an extension of the merger between the company and Truth Social after U.S. regulators began investigating the company. The original termination date of the union was on September 8th, but now the company hopes to extend it for another 12 months. 
• Lyft has created a new media division, Lyft Media, to expand its advertising offerings within the app. In its continued effort to compete with Uber, this new division comes a year after the company acquired Halo Cars Inc., which makes ad monitors on top of cars. 
• Lionsgate Media paid $191.4 million to acquire a portion of Spyglass Media’s library and a stake in the company. The deal was initially inked in 2021, giving Lionsgate 200 films and an 18.4% stake in the company.
• Cox Enterprises bought Axios for $525 million this past week. Cox Enterprises will not be acquiring Axios HQ, an AI-based service that synopsizes company emails, which Axios will spin out HQ into a different company. 
• Twitter is testing an edit function for Tweets, but it may only be available to Twitter Blue exclusive members. Twitter has not announced when it will release this function.
• ESPN is reportedly out of talks for the illusive rights of Big 10 media rights for the 2023-2034 year. This exit leaves CBS, NBC, and Fox News the three outlets with coverage for the following year. 
• Phenomenal Media acquired a digital satirical magazine for women, Reductress. This acquisition adds to Phenomenal’s catalog of media focused on women and underrepresented communities. 

Additionally, below is a list of industry leader hires

• 305 Worldwide at Horizon Media promoted Robert Alcazar to evp managing partner and executive creative director
  • He was previously the evp creative director at the company

• Everest.com hired Vince Lusardi as chief experience officer
  • He was previously the chief creative officer at Catch Co.

• Grey Group hired Laura Visco as chief creative officer of global brands
  • She was previously the executive creative director at 72andSunny

• Simulmedia hired Jon Werther as evp, operations and business development
  • He was previously the evp, strategic partnerships and new business development at Professional Fighters League

• Everest.com hired Vince Lusardi as chief experience officer
  • He was previously the chief creative officer at Catch Co.