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Commitments and Contingencies
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
Guarantees
In September 2018, at the time of its equity investment in a private company, the Company agreed to guarantee the lease of such company’s premises in New York. In October 2020, the investee renewed its lease agreement, and the Company’s prior guarantee was replaced with a new guarantee of up to $5.4 million. The amount of the guarantee is reduced as the investee makes payments under the lease. As of December 31, 2022, the maximum amount of the guarantee was $1.1 million, and no liability was recognized with respect to the guarantee.
In the course of business, the Company both provides and receives indemnities which are intended to allocate certain risks associated with business transactions. Similarly, the Company may remain contingently liable for various obligations of a business that has been divested in the event that a third party does not fulfill its obligations under an indemnification obligation. The Company records a liability for indemnification obligations and other contingent liabilities when probable and reasonably estimable.
Legal Matters
The Company is party to various lawsuits and claims in the ordinary course of business.
Two mass arbitrations (the “Arbitrations”) were initiated before the American Arbitration Association on March 15, 2022 against the Company and certain of its executive officers and directors (together, the “BuzzFeed Defendants”) and Continental Stock Transfer Corporation by 91 individuals previously employed by Legacy BuzzFeed (the “Claimants”). The Claimants alleged that they were harmed when they were allegedly unable to convert their shares of Class B common stock to Class A common stock and sell those shares on December 6, 2021, the first day of trading following the Business Combination, and asserted claims for negligence, misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, and violation of Section 11 of the Securities Act. The Claimants sought to recover unspecified compensatory damages, an award of costs, and any further appropriate relief.
On April 21, 2022, the BuzzFeed Defendants filed a complaint in the Delaware Court of Chancery seeking to enjoin the Arbitrations on the grounds that, inter alia, the Claimants’ purported causes of action arise from their rights as shareholders of the Company, are governed by the Company’s charter, including its forum selection provision, and are therefore not arbitrable (the “Delaware Action”). The complaint sought declaratory and injunctive relief. A hearing on the merits of the Delaware Action was held on July 26, 2022. On October 28, 2022, the Court of Chancery granted the Company’s motion to permanently enjoin the Claimants’ arbitration claims.
On January 17, 2023, the Claimants filed amended statements of claim in the Arbitrations against BuzzFeed Media Enterprises, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Corporation, the transfer agent for 890 and later the Company. The amended statements of claim likewise allege that the Claimants were harmed when they were allegedly unable to convert their shares of Class B common stock to Class A common stock and sell those shares on the first day of trading following the Business Combination. The Claimants allege claims for breach of contract and the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, misrepresentation, and negligence, and seek to recover unspecified compensatory damages, an award of costs, and any further appropriate relief.
Although the outcome of such matters cannot be predicted with certainty and the impact that the final resolution of such matters will ultimately have on the Company’s consolidated financial statements is not known, we do not believe that the resolution of these matters will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s future results of operations or cash flows.
The Company settled or resolved certain legal matters during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 that did not individually or in the aggregate have a material impact on the Company’s business or its consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.