FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver doesn't expect to survive Disney layoffs, pollster to leave ABC News

Nate Silver, founder of the FiveThirtyEight polling website, said Tuesday he doesn't expect Disney will renew his soon-to- expire his contract, considering the media company's a series of deep layoffs. 

"Disney layoffs have substantially impacted FiveThirtyEight," Silver tweeted. "I am sad and disappointed to a degree that’s kind of hard to express right now. We’ve been at Disney almost 10 years. My contract is up soon and I expect that I’ll be leaving at the end of it."

Disney is reportedly planning to lay off 4,000 employees this week as part of its efforts to cut 7,000 jobs overall.a

Silver founded the website 15 years ago, and it became a licensed feature of The New York Times' website in 2010.

Three years later, ESPN, which is majority-owned by Disney, acquired FiveThirtyEight, and the sports outlet eventually transferred the website to its sister company, ABC News.

"I had been worried about an outcome like this," Silver also said. "I am so proud of the work of FiveThirtyEight staff. It has never been easy. I’m so sorry to the people impacted by this."

However, Silver also said he's had some "great initial conversations about opportunities elsewhere."

ABC News is expected to keep the FiveThirtyEight brand and streamline the website to become more efficient.

"ABC News remains dedicated to data journalism with a core focus on politics, the economy and enterprise reporting – this streamlined structure will allow us to be more closely aligned with our priorities for the 2024 election and beyond," a network spokesperson told the The Hollywood Reporter. "We are grateful for the invaluable contributions of the team members who will be departing the organization and know they will continue to make an important impact on the future of journalism."

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.