Results tagged “carlosslim”

The NY Times' financial woes are well-known, but now the NY Post reports, "The family that controls The New York Times empire has lost more than 86 percent of its fortune and may have sell their controlling stake to get out of debt. The Ochs-Sulzberger family, which has run the venerable paper since 1896, may also face unusual pressure from about two dozen descendants to cash out and restore their comfortable lifestyles snatched away suddenly by hard times." The Post has a graphic detailing things like how the family fortune was once $425 million and how their annual income is just $4.5 million (down 50% from recent years), complete with an actual image of Times publisher Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger with a black eye (Sulzberger's dad's nickname was Punch). The tabloid also explains that Mexican media mogul Carlos Slim, who loaned $250 million to the Times, "is poised to become the biggest Times shareholder of common stock because he's allowing his loan to be repaid in six years with stock -- either from the family's main trust or a weakened corporate treasury."

Practically from the horse's mouth: The NY Times now says Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is "near a deal to invest about $250 million in The New York Times Company, helping to shore up the publishing company’s struggling finances." The Wall Street Journal had reported on this development on Saturday, saying that Slim's investment is structured like a loan; the Times adds that Slim may "get a special annual dividend, perhaps as high as 10 percent or more." Harvard professor and author of The Trust, a book about the Times, Alex Jones tells Reuters that Slim is an "ideal" investor: "This is a man who already has made his fortune and is in his own way an entrepreneur like Adolph Ochs was. That's different from some financiers looking for an opportunity to make a killing." At any rate, it's tought times for the Times: A $400 million credit line runs out in May and "as of September, the company had about $46 million in cash; its total debt load is $1.1 billion."

The Wall Street Journal reports the NY Times Company is in talks with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim about increasing his investment in the company. While it's unclear whether a deal will be made, one option is that "the Times Co. would issue Mr. Slim preferred stock, which carries no voting right but pays an annual dividend, in return for his investment"—in other words, it would be a loan. The NY Times Co.'s financial woes have been more publicized in recent months: It took a $225 million mortgage on its headquarters, is putting up its share of the Red Sox for sale, and started putting ads on page A1; the Post eagerly adds that the Times' "$400 million credit line expires in May." (The Post also loves the Times' apparent whining re: Obama access.) Slim is the second richest person in the world after Warren Buffett; a NY Times Co. special board meeting to discuss the matter is planned for this week.