ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge rated Lean Right in August/September 2025 Blind Bias Survey

ZeroHedge was rated Lean Right (2.38) in the August/September Blind Bias Survey, confirming AllSides’ Media Bias Rating. A total of 503 people across the political spectrum rated the bias of ZeroHedge.

ZeroHedge Rated Lean Right in September 2024 Small Group Editorial Review

In September 2024, an AllSides multipartisan panel conducted a Small Group Editorial Review of ZeroHedge, resulting in a Lean Right bias rating (2.33).

AllSides moved ZeroHedge’s rating on the AllSides Media Bias Meter from 2.00 to 2.33 on Sept. 27, 2024.

Three reviewers from across the political spectrum observed that ZeroHedge demonstrated Lean Right slant, sensationalism, and story choice, often appealing to conservative audiences. Many stories exhibited bias by omission, featuring commentary primarily from right-leaning perspectives. 

The panel also noted that while some content was sourced from other outlets, these articles similarly catered to a right-leaning audience. The stories reviewed included, but were not limited to: 

• Who Is Kamala Harris' Brother-In-Law, Tony West?
• Los Angeles Struggles To Curb Brazen And Violent Street Takeovers
• Could a US Port Strike Hand Trump The Election?
• Lott: Media Push Misleading Crime Stats To Protect Democrat Narrative
• "Something Brewing In Gulf Of Mexico" As Confidence Grows In Cyclone Formation Next Week
• Another Rationale For Affirmative Action Collapses
• Election Meddling? Zelensky Stumps For Harris On Taxpayer Dime

ZeroHedge Rated Lean Right in June 2020 Independent Review

AllSides gave ZeroHedge an initial media bias rating of Lean Right in June 2020 following an independent review by an AllSides editor, which found a focus on issues of importance to the right, including opposition to vaccine mandates.

ZeroHedge was launched in January 2009 by Bulgarian-born, U.S.-based former investment banker Daniel Ivandjiiski.

Ivandjiiski was born in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1978 and moved to the United States around 1997 to study molecular biology at the University of Pennsylvania, which he graduated from in 2001.

According to Wikipedia, the site’s readership “grew rapidly” later in 2009 after publishing “a series of pieces accusing Goldman Sachs of using high-frequency trading to profit via the New York Stock Exchange.”

Anonymity

Unless noted as republished from another publication, all features on the site are posted under the name Tyler Durden, a fictional character played by Brad Pitt in the movie Fight Club.

In August 2009, The New York Post reported on suspicions that Daniel Ivandjiiski was the founder of ZeroHedge, which it described as “controversial” in the article.

In 2016, Bloomberg offered more clarity on who “Tyler Durden” was when former writer Colin Lokey told the publication he joined ZeroHedge in 2015 and was one of three Tyler Durdens that also included credit trader Tim Backshall and Ivandjiiski himself. 

ZeroHedge still conceals the names of its contributors under the Tyler Durden alias and considers this practice crucial to its identity.

On its “About” page [retrieved May 22, 2024], ZeroHedge states its mission as:

• to widen the scope of financial, economic and political information available to the professional investing public.

• to skeptically examine and, where necessary, attack the flaccid institution that financial journalism has become.

• to liberate oppressed knowledge.

• to provide analysis uninhibited by political constraint.

• to facilitate information's unending quest for freedom.

It states its method to accomplish this as “pseudonymous speech responsibly used,” adding further context:

“anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. it thus exemplifies the purpose behind the bill of rights, and of the first amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation-- and their ideas from suppression-- at the hand of an intolerant society.”

Read more about ZeroHedge in AllSides’ May 2024 blog post, ZeroHedge Has Millions of Readers. But Who Are Its Writers?

Controversies and Criticisms Surrounding ZeroHedge

In 2018, the American nonprofit global policy think tank RAND Corporation published a study titled “Russian Social Media Influence: Understanding Russian Propaganda in Eastern Europe” in which it labeled ZeroHedge a “useful idiot” for the Kremlin, concluding that its posts “frequently echo the Kremlin line.”

In March 2019, Facebook temporarily blocked users from sharing ZeroHedge links on the platform, though it reversed the ban three days later, citing a “mistake” with its spam-filtering system.

In February 2020, X, then known as Twitter, banned ZeroHedge after it published an article that linked a Chinese scientist to the COVID-19 outbreak, listing personal information like the phone number and email of the scientist. Several prominent Center and Left-rated sources condemned ZeroHedge for spreading a “conspiracy” and “misinformation” with this feature. 

Per CBS News, Twitter said it banned ZeroHedge’s Twitter account for “violating the Twitter rules.” In June 2020, however, Twitter lifted the ban, citing “an error in (its) enforcement action in this case.” The social media company gave no further detail on the matter.

In June 2020, Google banned ZeroHedge from its ad platform Google Ads for what it claimed were derogatory comments on the site that violated Google’s content policy, but lifted the ban in July 2020 when ZeroHedge’s management began moderating comments.

Also in June 2020, PayPal deplatformed ZeroHedge.

In July 2020, following a community discussion by its users, Wikipedia banned ZeroHedge from being used as a source.

In February 2022, anonymous U.S. intelligence officials told The Associated Press that ZeroHedge was “amplifying Kremlin propaganda” (in AP’s paraphrased terms) by publishing articles written by “Moscow-controlled media.”

ZeroHedge denied the claims, saying it aims to “publish a wide spectrum of views that cover both sides of a given story,” and that it “has never worked, collaborated or cooperated with Russia, nor are there any links to spy agencies.”

Media Appraisals of ZeroHedge

A New York Magazine article written in September 2009 by Joe Hagan suggested Ivandjiiski’s bearish, conspiratorial outlook is why ZeroHedge became so popular so quickly.

“[A]s his posts got more detailed, a theme began to emerge: Wall Street was a vast conspiracy. Nothing could be trusted. All markets were corrupt. The darker his vision the more popular he became,” Hagan wrote of Ivandjiiski and ZeroHedge.

Justin Fox, writing for Time Magazine in October 2009, echoed the sentiment and said it was reflective of the mood of Wall Street traders at the time.

Per Wikipedia, ZeroHedge received early praise from journalist Matt Taibbi — who at the time was an editor for Rolling Stone — for accurately assessing corruption in the banking industry in his 2010 New York Times bestseller on the 2008 financial crisis, Griftopia.

In March 2011, Paul Kedrosky of Bloomberg, writing for Time Magazine, ranked ZeroHedge ninth in Time’s 25 Best Financial Blogs

In October 2011, ZeroHedge also received a nod from The New York Times for being “well-read.”

Journalist Seth Hettena’s Criticisms of ZeroHedge

In December 2019, American journalist Seth Hettena — a contributing editor at Rolling Stone and previously of The Associated Press — published an independent blog post on his website (at the time named “trump-russia.com”) that was deeply critical of ZeroHedge. 

He accused it of following “the pro-Russia script,” spreading “anti-Semitic garbage,” and pursuing “an audience comprised of racists, anti-Semites, extreme right-wingers, and conspiracy wingnuts” for profit. Hettena also investigated ZeroHedge’s ownership, and included a profile on Krassimir Ivandjiiski, implying that he was likely a spy for the KGB at one point in his life.

Hettena’s post drew legal action from Krassimir Ivandjiiski and led to a much longer March 2020 feature from Hettena published in The New Republic titled “Is Zero Hedge a Russian Trojan Horse?” 

Of his thesis — that ZeroHedge may be a Russian agent — Hettena concluded:

“It may very well be true, as Zero Hedge claims, that it has never been in contact with anyone from Russia, the U.S., or any government. At the same time, it may also be true that Zero Hedge is, for all intents and purposes, a Russian disinformation operation. In the bizarre world of conspiracies and disinformation, both things can be true at once. The warped incentives of the internet drive sites like Zero Hedge to publish pro-Kremlin content without any help from Vladimir Putin. If conspiracies and pro-Russia propaganda keep the audience clicking on the ads that festoon Zero Hedge, then that’s what they get.”

ZeroHedge is owned by ABC Media Ltd., a company established in Bulgaria and managed by Krassimir Ivandjiiski, Daniel Ivandjiiski’s father.

A 2020 blog post from Krassimir lends some insight into the connection between ZeroHedge and ABC. 

Reportedly, Krassimir previously stated the only reason ZeroHedge is connected to his name is because ‘they even did not have $30 for the initial registration,” but AllSides was not able to locate the original comment.