It’s a sad day for FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver as he was just given the news that his website, under the Disney umbrella, was being axed as part of the next round of Disney layoffs, which includes close to 7,000 people by the end of the week.
Here is a quick rundown of Five ThirtyEight and everything we know regarding this heartbreaking news.
FiveThirtyEight Explained
FiveThirtyEight or sometimes referred to as 538, is an American site that is driven by opinion polls analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States.
Nate founded the site Silver in 2008 and has been with Disney for nearly ten years. The website is under the ABC News portion of The Walt Disney Company.
The site has grown in popularity over the years for those individuals seeking analytical and opinionated polls and blogs based on sports, politics, and more.
The site was under the Disney umbrella, as it was owned and operated by ABC, which is also facing many mass layoffs as Disney begins its second round this week.
The first round of Disney layoffs began a few weeks back, with significant executives getting the boot before anyone else.
Nate Silver’ Heartbroken’ by the Recent News of His Departure
In a recent tweet from Silver’s official Twitter account, he shares his emotions towards the firing and how he and his team have been with Disney for quite some time:
Disney layoffs have substantially impacted FiveThirtyEight. I am sad and disappointed to a degree that’s kind of hard to express right now. We’ve been at Disney almost 10 years. My contract is up soon and I expect that I’ll be leaving at the end of it.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) April 25, 2023
You can see from the tweet above that his heart is broken as it should be; getting fired or terminated is nothing to laugh about, nor is it something to joke around about.
Silver and his team are among the many top-level executives and employees that fall under the Disney umbrella that are part of a second wave of mass layoffs as Disney is looking to restructure their efforts as a company.
But despite these layoffs, Bob Iger is seeking to invest 17 billion dollars in Florida’s WDW theme Parks, Resorts, and properties in the next decade.
So far, ABC News, Netflix, Hulu, Freeform, Cast Members, and now FiveThirtyEight are among those who have been directly affected by these massive Disney layoffs.