Debt May Force Sulzbergers to Sell NYT Stake

(NEWSER) - Newspaper scion Arthur Sulzberger Jr., who "has spent a lifetime faithfully placing his feet in his father’s footsteps," Mark Bowden writes in Vanity Fair, may be exactly the wrong guy to pull the New York Times out of the financial death spiral it seems to be in. With "his life’s mission to maintain the excellence he inherited," the Times publisher and chairman has made a series of disastrous decisions, until a sale of the nation's premier newspaper, previously unthinkable, is likely. More»

'We don't report that stuff,' sniffs Gray Lady

(NEWSER) - The New York Times will report almost anything newsworthy—except a rumored affair between its publisher and Caroline Kennedy, Gawker reports. When a reader commented on the paper’s City Room blog wondering if the Times would address the gossip surrounding the two, the comment was deleted with the explanation that “We don’t report stuff like this, regardless of people involved.” Uh, sure. More»

(NEWSER) - The New York Times' ruling Ochs-Sulzberger family has a “habit of buying high and selling low,” writes John Gapper of the Financial Times. The clan sold the paper’s old Times Square building at a bargain price and bought back shares near their zenith. Now Arthur Sulzberger Jr., "the daffy fourth-generation family member who is publisher of the paper and chairs the company," may sell the Times, which would be perhaps the family's dumbest move yet. More»

Media mogul rebuffed after bid for 20% of company

(NEWSER) - Media mogul and DreamWorks co-founder David Geffen recently offered to buy nearly 20% of the struggling New York Times Company, Fortune reports. Geffen offered market price, currently $194 million, for the shares owned by Harbinger Capital Management. But the hedge fund rejected his offer as too low. He hasn't been the paper's only suitor. Google also "looked seriously" at buying the Times Co. several months ago, but passed. More»

Mexican billionaire will own 17% of company, but gets no special voting shares

(NEWSER) - The New York Times Company announced last night that it had cut a deal with Mexico's Carlos Slim, the world's second-richest man, for a $250 million loan. Slim will receive common shares over six years, at the end of which he will own 17% of the corporation. But he will not gain any representation on the company's board or any of the special voting shares held by the Sulzberger family. More»