4chan, the once infamous image-based bulletin board labeled as "the a**hole of the internet," is running out money.
In a thread titled "winter is coming," site owner Hiroyuki Nishimura announced that 4chan has been struggling financially and that the site can no longer afford to maintain their web presence. He highlighted three options to cut down on the website's costs much to the disappointment of users.
Nishimura has tried to maintain the status quo of 4chan after acquiring the website from former owner Christopher "Moot" Poole, who sold the website in 2015 to work for Google. Nishimura's post reeked of frustration as he claimed that he has failed to keep the website running. Amidst the crisis, Nishimura said that he has been forced to undertake drastic measures such as limiting the upload size and closing down some boards, adding more exclusive "4chan passes," and annoying users with pop-up and even malicious ads.
But an unlikely savior has expressed interest in joining 4chan's board of directors. Martin Shrikeli, the former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, told Nishimura that he is willing to buy the website and keep it running. Shrikeli is reported to be currently on bail after being arrested for securities fraud.
Shrikeli's proposal was made via a twitter post, and Nishimura said that he has not received a formal proposal for 4chan. He told Gizmodo "We have not received [Shkreli's] offer yet. So it's not serious. I think."
Meanwhile, some of 4chan's remaining supporters have suggested running the website through donations. However, Nishimura said that it would still be difficult to sustain a website solely from donations alone.