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What\u2019s the biggest difference between Elon Musk<\/strong> and the CEO of The Onion<\/em>? \u201cI know I\u2019m not funny\u2014and he has no idea,\u201d says Ben Collins,<\/strong> the former NBC News reporter who bought the satirical newspaper with Twilio founder Jeff Lawson<\/strong> last year. In the 12 months since, The Onion<\/em> has reached new comic heights\u2014see: viral headlines like \u201cNation Can\u2019t Believe It on Harvard\u2019s Side\u201d<\/a>\u2014while increasing its cultural footprint.<\/p>\n But again, Collins says, that\u2019s because he\u2019s been smart enough to leave the actual comedy to the experts. \u201cThere are definitely people who would come in here and just be like, \u2018I\u2019m the funniest man in the world. Let\u2019s go attack trans people or something. That would be their version of what satire is. Just like, for example, the song \u2018The Reason\u2019 by Hoobastank is also technically<\/em> music, it is not the kind of music that I want to listen to.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, Collins has focused on getting The Onion<\/em> the resources it so desperately needed, as well as pruning back the bullshit so the paper\u2019s content can shine. \u201cWe took this thing that was dying a slow internet heat death and turned it into a real newspaper and much bigger business,\u201d he exclusively tells Vanity Fair.<\/em> \u201cThere was a boner-pill ad shawl that covered all of our content, and you just couldn\u2019t read it. We got rid of all of it. We reset revenue to zero for a month or two while we figured out how to make and ship a paper to tens of thousands of people.\u201d<\/p>\n Collins has expanded the staff from 14 employees to 27; he anticipates hiring eight more by the end of the year. He\u2019s invested resources into video content, relaunching parody television news network \u201cONN\u201d (Onion News Network) on YouTube and\u2014in a shocking move for any online publication in this day and age\u2014he\u2019s also brought back The Onion<\/em>\u2019s print arm, which initially folded in 2013.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not saying every newspaper should get back and print immediately. The New York Observer,<\/em> or whatever the fuck, I don\u2019t think it would behoove them to start doing this shit,\u201d he says. \u201cBut we can be super funny in print, and people like getting a nice thing in the mail.\u201d Although he\u2019s quick to claim that, in some ways, he\u2019s just been lucky, Collins also has a game plan for building a thriving 21st-century media brand that he\u2019s more than happy to share with other publications\u2014eventually. \u201cWe want to help other people get into print soon,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s our plan too. It can\u2019t just be us.\u201d<\/p>\n In a declining industry where everyone is obsessed with doing more with less, Collins\u2019s Onion<\/em> is legitimately growing. \u201cIt\u2019s like a miracle,\u201d he says. \u201cI wish the media didn\u2019t have to collapse for people to have to look at us as a model for making money and being successful, but here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n Below, Collins sits for a long chat about leaving NBC News after feuding with Elon Musk, his romantic relationship with aspiring politician Kat Abughazaleh,<\/strong> the status of The Onion<\/em>\u2019s attempt to purchase InfoWars,<\/em> and so much more.<\/p>\n Vanity Fair:<\/em> You were a reporter at NBC News before becoming CEO of The Onion<\/em>. What was that transition like for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n Ben Collins:<\/em> I used to be a disinformation reporter. I was covering all these bad guys. There was a flip that switched a couple of years ago where I started seeing my bosses thinking, like, Uh oh, he\u2019s going to continue to report on Elon Musk? This is not a great thing. Everyone could see them shaking their collars out. They were like, The fascism\u2019s coming, and he\u2019s still doing this? So it was a weird and awkward last year at my job.<\/p>\n I think I have some modicum of social skills. I can read the room. I know when I\u2019m not welcome there anymore.<\/p>\n Did you feel that they were doing anything to impede your actual journalism?<\/strong><\/p>\n