San Francisco, Jan 3 (IANS): Digital news startup The Messenger is reportedly laying off about 24 employees amid severe cash crunch, as its president Richard Beckman has announced to leave the company.

The employees were likely to be laid off this week as part of a cost-cutting measure, reports The New York Times, citing sources.

“The company is facing financial headwinds in a tough digital ad market that have put a squeeze on its operations,” said the report.

The Messenger said in a statement that it was “in the midst of a second-round raise”.

However, the startup, which has nearly 300 employees, did not reveal the number of people it has laid off.

The Messenger publishes articles on politics, culture and general-interest news.

Meanwhile, Beckman, a former executive at Conde Nast, who served as The Messenger’s president, announced that he was leaving the company, citing “short-term health issues”.

Prior to The Messenger’s launch, Beckman had claimed that the website would generate more than $100 million in revenue in 2024 with 100 million monthly readers.

Veteran media executive Jimmy Finkelstein started The Messenger last year.

In a post on LinkedIn, Beckman said that he told Finkelstein in November that he would be stepping down on January 31 but would remain an investor in the company.

“Back in November I had advised Jimmy Finkelstein of my decision to step down based on short term health issues I have endured this past year and will be subsequently retiring from the corporate world at the end of this month,” he wrote, adding that he will be “helping with the transition” in the next few weeks.