Wright Family Halts Operational Funding for Sean Plunket’s The Platform

The affluent family that initially invested in The Platform has stopped providing operating funding to the digital media outlet.

Sean Plunket, the founding editor, stated on Monday that the Wright family moved in March.

The adjustment was consistent with Plunket's aims, which were to "get established, work out our systems, and transition to be a standalone financial entity."

He verified that Wayne Leslie Wright was still a director of The Platform, but that the rest of the family was not participating. 

Plunket also stated that startup funding came from the family, not the charity: "We're completely separate from that."

According to the Platform's website, it is "the original independent media space where you can receive and impart views and opinions the mainstream media simply cannot handle". 

The Companies Register states that Wayne Leslie Wright holds 300 shares of the company, with Plunket owning the remaining 100.

Plunket would not reveal how much money the Wrights had invested.

"Probably more than they wanted, and less than I wanted," they replied.

When asked how The Platform was doing financially, he stated, "Some months we're up, some months we're down, it's a tough old market."

Plunket described The Platform as having a "massive" viewership. 

The Companies Register states that Wayne Leslie Wright holds 300 shares of the company, with Plunket owning the remaining 100.

Plunket would not reveal how much money the Wrights had invested.

"Probably more than they wanted, and less than I wanted," they replied.

When asked how The Platform was doing financially, he stated, "Some months we're up, some months we're down, it's a tough old market."

Plunket described The Platform as having a "massive" viewership. 

It received approximately 400,000 live listening hours each month, and its YouTube account had 68,000 subscribers.

Plunket stated that The Platform's goal was to thrive and offer high-quality journalism.

When asked how long it could do that for, he said, "How long is a piece of string?"  I'm not buying a Rolls-Royce; we work in a harsh and competitive media market." 

Wayne Leslie Wright's parents, Wayne (snr) and Chloe, established the early learning organization BestStart Educare, formerly known as KidiCorp, in 1996.

 In 2014, they established the Wright Family Foundation, which today operates BestStart.

Wayne Leslie Wright told the New Zealand Herald that he was likewise unwilling to disclose how much money the family had invested in The Platform.

He stated that the idea had always been for startup funding to terminate once the site had developed an audience and an advertising basis. 

He told the New Zealand Herald that The Platform was treading a fine line as a business.

There were no other supporters or investors, and revenue was generated from advertising, subscriptions, and products.