The alternative video sharing platform Rumble has been generating a lot of interest lately, with millions of users switching over to their app and website as content creators move away from the Silicon Valley tech companies like YouTube, with their censorship of content they disagree with ideologically.

But people switching over are rightly cautious of whether they can trust these new alternative platforms as well, and one of the key things people want to know is who owns these platforms like Rumble? It’s a clever trick for big tech and big finance to create companies which appear “grassroots” and independent, but are in reality owned by the same big players, who’ll apply the same censorship when it suits.

Is this the case with Rumble? Who actually owns them and calls the shots there? The answer is encouraging:

Rumble is independently owned by individual investors who are strongly committed to free speech. The founders have never taken money from Silicon Valley or large financial investors and can remain strongly independent in terms of protecting creators on their platform.

The main reason people are looking into the ownership of platforms like Rumble is trust – they want to know whether they can trust the platform to protect their rights to free speech and open dialogue on politics and other topics.

When we looked into this issue, the answer was overwhelmingly yes – you can trust Rumble as an alternative platform. The original founder remains the CEO today, and they have resisted taking money from any big players that would influence their pro free speech policies.

Let’s look at some information which backs up this viewpoint in more detail.

 

Rumble CEO on Ownership & Operation

The best information on the founding and ownership of Rumble can be found from interviews it’s founder and CEO, Jack Pavolovski, has given. He founded the platform in 2013 with a strong desire to promote free speech and grass-roots content creators, and the purpose and ideology of the company has remained the same ever since.

See the embedded interviews he gave below, where he specifically addresses the issue of ownership and investment.

Part 1:

 

Part 2:

 

Here are some key take-ways from both videos regarding ownership:

• Since it’s founding in 2013, Rumble has never received any financing from Silicon Valley.
• Is a Canadian based company, but also has holdings in the US and focuses primarily on the American market.
• Nor have they taken any money from venture capitalists or private equity. As such they are not restricted by big money corporate investors telling them what to do.
• The board is made up from a combination of independent American and Canadian investors. See here.
• It is also now listed on the NASDAQ as “&RUM”, having completed a merger with CF Aquisition Corp in 2022 (see here), providing a bunch more capital to grow features and functionality on the platform.
• A strong ideology of standing up for grass roots content creators (“the little guy”), and strong independence from big tech and Silicon Valley that has remained since it’s founding (although in fairness the merger and NASDAQ listing is moving it a little more into big tech and big money influence).
• Political dialogue will never be censored as long as long it follows the law.

“The proudest thing I can say about Rumble…… as a company we’ve never received any financing from Silicon Valley. We haven’t taken any money from venture capitalists or private equity. This has been a “friends and family” of Americans and Canadians coming together to build a platform…..There’s no outside influence on Rumble. Our mission has been the same since we started until today”.

Jack Pavolovski, CEO

Rumble has independent ownership and leadership strongly committed to free speech

Dan Bongino Recently Acquired a Stake in Rumble

It should also be mentioned that reasonably well known conservative radio show host Dan Bongino recently acquired an equity stake in Rumble, citing relentless demonetization of his content on YouTube because of it’s conservative leanings.

This is a case of someone putting their money where their mouth is, in terms of supporting companies who are themselves supporting a stance of free speech and open political dialogue, as opposed to companies like YouTube who appear to be doing all they can to shut it down.

“These tech tyrants have been abusing us for far too long. We’re generous enough to give them our content and then they turn around and do their best to demonetize and bury us. The time for talk is over, we have to do something about it,”

Dan Bongino – see here

Rumble is Trustworthy For Free Speech

Everything we’ve covered so far about the Rumble platform points towards it being a trustworthy platform for content creators to move to. It’s ownership and operation is independent and strongly protective of free speech, which makes them an excellent alternative for publishers who’ve been purged by YouTube’s aggressive policies.

The founder and CEO Jack Pavlovski comes across as authentic and sincere in all his interviews in his desire to protect free speech and open debate, and there are no indications of any big tech or corporate influence in how his platform is run.

Click here to get started on the Rumble platform (free to join and many different account options available).

See also our guide on different video platforms which allow embedding for pro/con comparisons between Rumble and other platforms like BitChute.