Salon Sells The Well to Longtime Members

One of the earliest online communities, The Well, has a new owner: its members.

On Thursday evening, Salon Media Group, the previous owner of The Well, said it had sold the community to the Well Group, a private investment group consisting of longtime members of the community, which was founded in 1985, long before the rise of the Web.

Although The Well was never a huge community by the standards of today’s consumer Web sites, it had an influential audience of cyber-thinkers and entrepreneurs, one that became smaller and smaller over the years. In June, Salon said it was putting the community up for sale.

The sale of to the Well Group includes the potentially valuable domain name well.com.

“The Well welcomes the opportunity to support its existing base and extends an invitation to like-minded individuals looking for a social network that puts the free exchange of ideas at the forefront,” said Earl Crabb, chief executive of The Well Group, in a statement.

In a brief phone interview, Cindy Jeffers, chief executive of Salon, declined to say how much the investment group paid Salon for The Well.

“As a true pioneer of the digital age, and a forerunner of today’s ubiquitous social networks, the Well has played a central role in the origin of countless creative endeavors and cultural movements,” Ms. Jeffers said in a statement. “We wish the Well countless more under their new management.”

Salon Sells The Well to Longtime Members

One of the earliest online communities, The Well, has a new owner: its members.

On Thursday evening, Salon Media Group, the previous owner of The Well, said it had sold the community to the Well Group, a private investment group consisting of longtime members of the community, which was founded in 1985, long before the rise of the Web.

Although The Well was never a huge community by the standards of today’s consumer Web sites, it had an influential audience of cyber-thinkers and entrepreneurs, one that became smaller and smaller over the years. In June, Salon said it was putting the community up for sale.

The sale of to the Well Group includes the potentially valuable domain name well.com.

“The Well welcomes the opportunity to support its existing base and extends an invitation to like-minded individuals looking for a social network that puts the free exchange of ideas at the forefront,” said Earl Crabb, chief executive of The Well Group, in a statement.

In a brief phone interview, Cindy Jeffers, chief executive of Salon, declined to say how much the investment group paid Salon for The Well.

“As a true pioneer of the digital age, and a forerunner of today’s ubiquitous social networks, the Well has played a central role in the origin of countless creative endeavors and cultural movements,” Ms. Jeffers said in a statement. “We wish the Well countless more under their new management.”