Parler to be acquired by digital media company Starboard and temporarily pulled for a strategic review

Digital media company Starboard, formerly known as Olympic Media, said Friday it has acquired Parler, the conservative social-media platform that was popular with supporters of ex-President Donald Trump. “No reasonable person believes that a Twitter clone just for conservatives is a viable business any more,” Starboard said in a statement. “By refocusing on the cloud and IT infrastructure space (CEO) George Farmer has done an exceptional job at successfully leading Parlement into a critically important industry where it has already begun to excel.” Starboard intends to pull down the app from operation in order to conduct a strategic review, but the company said it sees “tremendous opportunities across multiple sectors to continue to serve marginalized or even outright censored communities – even extending beyond domestic politics.” The deal comes months after rapper Kanye West, now known as Ye, said he was acquiring it. That plan fell apart when West was beset with financial difficulties triggered by antisemitic comments that caused major business partners, including Adidas and Gap, to drop their partnerships. No financial terms were disclosed.