NBCUniversal, one of the country's largest multimedia corporations, has officially been inducted into the Billion Dollar Roundtable organization, which recognizes corporations that achieve spending of at least $1 billion with minority and woman-owned suppliers.
The media company is joined by 20 other notable corporations among the ranks of Comcast, Microsoft, Toyota, Bank of America and Kaiser Permanente.
"We are beyond thrilled to become part of the Billion Dollar Roundtable," Chief Procurement Officer of NBCUniversal Peter Kiriacoulacos said, according to MarketWatch.
"Diversity in our supply chain is integral to the continued success of our Comcast NBCUniversal family of companies. We spent more than $5 billion with diverse vendors between 2011 and 2014, and our commitment to diverse vendors will be further strengthened by our membership in the Billion Dollar Roundtable."
NBCUniversal is planning to invest $250 million in BuzzFeed, the New York Times reports. The deal values the online media company at $1.5 billion.
Although investment plans have yet to be confirmed by both corporations, talks between both parties are said to be ongoing. NBCUniversal is also said to have investment plans for Vox, another digital media company.
Both investments are seen by analysts as an attempt by big-media to engage younger audiences that are at the forefront of declining television network viewership.
NBCUniversal was founded in 2004 in a merger between General Electric's National Broadcasting Company and Vivendi Universal Entertainment.
