In March 2011, ifeng.com drew more page views than the websites of CNN and the BBC. Its parent, Phoenix TV, was a Hong Kong satellite broadcaster that Chinese viewers trusted for news. Phoenix New Media turned that brand into a web portal and mobile service, with 222 million monthly visitors. A research firm it hired found its readers earned over four times the income of the average Chinese internet user. In May 2011 it listed in New York, during a rush of Chinese internet IPOs.

Spun Out of Phoenix TV

Phoenix TV had kept a small website since its own Hong Kong listing in 2000. In November 2005 it put Shuang Liu, one of its vice presidents, in charge of a new media business. In 2007 it moved its sites to the domain ifeng.com, and that November it set up Phoenix New Media in the Cayman Islands to hold the business. The company sold advertising on its portal and paid services delivered to mobile phones.

Eleven Dollars on the Big Board

Phoenix New Media priced its American depositary shares at $11 in May 2011 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange as FENG. The offering raised about $140 million, including shares sold by existing holders. Readers moved from portals to apps and social feeds, and growth slowed. Phoenix New Media kept ifeng running as a news brand. It still trades on the New York Stock Exchange under FENG.

Cover: The Phoenix or The Statue Overthrown, Rembrandt van Rijn. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for the phoenix (Phoenix TV and ifeng).