PROVIDENCE — On February 4, 2023, Providence resident and co-founder of 1440 Media, which sends 2.3 million people a daily email newsletter of neutral news, Pierre Lipton passed away. The company he co-founded was described in numbers: 1440 Media sends a free email newsletter with a selection of balanced news to more than 2.3 million recipients every day. In addition to the number of minutes in a day, it is called after the year the printing press was created.
His early achievement was measured by numbers: He was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for media in 2022 after graduating with a 4.0-grade point average from Brown University in 2020. His road racing speed was documented by the following numbers: On October 1, he won the Jamestown Half Marathon in 1 hour, 27 minutes, and 11 seconds.
He completed the 26.2 miles of the Mesa (Arizona) Marathon on February 4 in 3 hours, 10 minutes, and 5 seconds, maintaining an average speed of 7 minutes and 15 seconds per mile before collapsing and passing away.
He was 26 years old. Pierre Lipton, a Brown University graduate who co-founded 1440 Media, poses with his adopted dog, Appa, as part of the ‘Gansett Run Club in Providence, R.I. “He lived life to the fullest in every way,” said his mother, Professor Siu Challons-Lipton.
“He never did anything less than 100 percent,” said his girlfriend, Eleanor Pereboom. He had countless plans and dreams. He desired to complete every significant marathon. He wanted to represent Tonga, the country in the South Pacific where his mother was born, on the national soccer team.
In preparation for a trip in May, he was learning Italian in addition to speaking English, Spanish, and Arabic. He enjoyed building things, whether they were with Legos or brand-new businesses, and he aspired to change the world. “We are pretty sure he was going to win a Nobel Prize,” said his father, Dr. Jordan Lipton. “Pierre believed in truth, always. He lived his life that way — honest, truthful, and kind.”
His dedication to the truth was clear at 1440 Media, the Chicago-based business he co-founded in 2018 after running into entrepreneur Tim Huelskamp and scientist Andrew Steigerwald on Capitol Hill. “Every morning, we’d wake up to the same broken media landscape,” the founders explained. “Filler content. Talking heads. Opinions. Infotainment. But one day, instead of repeating the cycle, we started working on a solution: a comprehensive news source edited to be [as] unbiased as humanly possible. A daily briefing — in one simple email. For more insight. And less outrage.”
According to his father, Lipton always believed that there was too much polarization in the news and that people were unable to come to any consensus because their viewpoints were not supported by a common set of facts. He believed they could deliver more unbiased news that presents the truth and promotes interaction among neighbors who may otherwise have nothing in common. He desired to eradicate false information.
In other activities, his generosity was obvious. He taught math and English as a volunteer at a Panamanian orphanage while still in high school. He founded VitaLives in college with the intention of lowering vitamin and nutritional deficiencies. He donates organs even after his death.
“Any time I needed advice, he would be first to call and talk everything over,” said his sister, Adelina Lipton. “He was so level-headed and kind. When my dog went to the hospital, he knew how much I love my dog. He talked to me for hours.”
When the pandemic hit Providence, he and Pereboom began fostering dogs. But they found it too hard to say goodbye, so they adopted a mutt and named her Appa, after the flying bison/manatee in “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
When Lipton was enrolled in a dual degree program at Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design, Pereboom remembers first meeting her. She was instructed to visit Trader Joe’s in Warwick before sitting by the water and munching on some food.
It was the strangest first date, but it was also ideal, she reflected. “We purchased every single snack featuring an animal. We went to Save the Bay and I don’t know how long we sat on the rocks. When we departed, it was already dark. He continued to come up with amazing things for us to do while we spoke. He didn’t want to just blend in with the crowd at school. He enjoyed traveling, and he and his family had been to England, Sweden, China, Thailand, and Iceland. And soon, he and Pereboom were traveling together… click here to read more
His parents said a philanthropic organization will be established in Lipton’s memory, and a GoFundMe page is raising money to support “charitable organizations consistent with Pierre’s passions,” including food security, environmental protection and restoration, physical activity programs for the underprivileged, and animal welfare.
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