Who owns CNET?
As of : CNET is owned by Ziff Davis, Inc., listed (NASDAQ:ZD). The same owner has 4 other VPNs.
| Ultimate owner | Ziff Davis, Inc. (listed (NASDAQ:ZD)) |
|---|---|
| Owner chain | Ziff Davis Digital Media (tech publishing) → Ziff Davis, Inc. |
| Website | cnet.com |
| Sister sites | 4 |
| Fines and actions | CNET’s own company: 0 · whole Ziff Davis, Inc. group: 1 |
| Owner proof | verified |
| Last checked | 14 Oct 2026 |
In numbers
- Ziff Davis, Inc. owns 6 VPNs in our data, plus 5 review sites.
- 1 fine or legal action against the owner since 2016.
- Ziff Davis, Inc. has owned CNET since 2024 (price: reported ~USD 100m).
4 sister sites
Same owner can mean the same servers, the same data policies and the same parent that can be asked for data.
VPNs owned by Ziff Davis, Inc.
The owner of this review site also owns VPNs. Its ratings may favour these brands.
IPVanishipvanish.com- StrongVPNstrongvpn.com
Encrypt.meencrypt.me
SugarSyncsugarsync.com
VIPREvipre.com- SaferVPNsafervpn.com
Ziff Davis, Inc. sister sites, fines and sources →
Fines and legal actions
It does not name CNET’s own company; it concerns other companies of the Ziff Davis, Inc. group. The company column names who was fined.
| Date | Company | Regulator / court | Amount | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Highwinds Network Group (IPVanish's owner at the time) | court | — | Court records published in 2018 showed IPVanish supplied a user's name, email, real IP and connection times to US Homeland Security in a child-abuse investigation, despite marketing itself as no-logs. This predates StackPath and Ziff Davis ownership. source |
Questions and answers
Who owns CNET?
Ziff Davis, Inc.
Has the owner of CNET been fined?
1 record on file. The latest: court, 2016.
What are CNET’s sister sites?
CNET has 4 sister VPNs with the same owner, Ziff Davis, Inc.: PCMag, Mashable, ZDNET, Lifehacker. Full list: all Ziff Davis, Inc. sister sites.
Sources
Last checked 14 Oct 2026. How we check facts.
