ShareNate Silver, founder of FiveThirtyEight, has been unexpectedly let go from the firm amid Disney's ongoing layoffs. As part of the second round of cuts at ESPN's parent company, Silver's contract will not be renewed.
Out of His Company
Despite ABC News retaining FiveThirtyEight, significant changes to the site and brand are expected. The company stated that its priorities remain focused on politics, the economy, and enterprise reporting, with a keen eye towards the 2024 election and beyond.Silver rose to fame in 2008 when he correctly predicted the outcome of all 50 states during the presidential election. He is a liberal-leaning journalist who has faced criticism from both sides of the political aisle. In 2016, his polling model gave Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump a 30% chance of beating out heavily favoured Democrat Hillary Clinton.
This controversial prediction was heavily scrutinised, and some questioned the validity of his model. Nonetheless, FiveThirtyEight gave Trump a higher chance of winning than most mainstream news and polling sources.
As a keen poker player, Silver may now have more time to devote to his passion. During the early years of the poker boom in the 2000s, Silver played limit hold'em online for a living. In recent years, he has frequently participated in major events such as the World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker. According to Hendon Mob, Silver has earned over $600,000 in live tournament earnings.
It remains to be seen what Silver's next move will be, but given his stature within the mainstream political media, he will undoubtedly have many options available to him.
