New BuzzFeed shareholder and former GOP presidential candidate Vikek Ramaswamy released a letter Tuesday that called for massive changes at the company, including layoffs and staffing updates.

In his letter, Mr. Ramaswamy called for a dramatic shift in strategy. He said Buzzfeed needs to hire electric personalities that will drive readership and let creators control the direction of the news and entertainment platform.

“BuzzFeed has lost its way. I own stock because I believe BuzzFeed can still become a more valuable company than at its initial listing, but this requires a major shift in strategy,” Mr. Ramaswamy wrote.

The content creators he mentioned by name included Aaron Rodgers, Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens. The former pharmaceutical company titan also said BuzzFeed’s board should hire three unnamed directors to increase “diversity of thought.”

Hiring big names like Ms. Owens and Mr. Carlson would be expensive, so Mr. Ramaswamy suggested significant cuts to staff so BuzzFeed’s resources would go toward supporting the company’s “highest value” content. 

Mr. Ramaswamy also suggested BuzzFeed publicly apologize to its readers for misleading them. 

“Address your audience directly and candidly admit: We failed in our obligation to tell you the truth. By both omission and commission, we repeatedly lied on issues of national importance, and so did the rest of the media,” he wrote, referring to the Russia hoax against President Trump. 

The response from BuzzFeed was cold, with co-founder Jonah Peretti saying Mr. Ramaswamy misunderstands BuzzFeed and its goals. 

“I’m skeptical it makes business sense to turn BuzzFeed into a creator platform for inflammatory political pundits. And we’re definitely not going to issue and apology for our Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism,” Mr. Peretti responded. 

Mr. Peretti’s rejection of Mr. Ramaswamy’s letter means his proposed changes face hurdles. The ex-candidate’s 2.6% voting share pales versus Mr. Peretti’s 64%. 

Mr. Ramaswamy’s letter comes after BuzzFeed dismantled its award-winning BuzzFeed News division this year. The media company still controls the popular Huffington Post and First We Feast.

• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.