The bad news keeps on coming for the New York Times. When will company chairman Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger announce he's a failure and his ideas should be reversed? Oh wait, I forgot, only Republican presidents are supposed to do that.
Sulzberger sure hasn't been doing well, though. Here's the latest:
Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest shareholder in New York Times Co., sold its entire 7.3 percent stake today, according to a person briefed on the transaction, sending the stock to its lowest in more than 10 years.
The person declined to be identified because Morgan Stanley hasn't made the sale public yet. Traders with knowledge of the transaction said Merrill Lynch & Co. brokered a $183 million block trade of 10 million New York Times shares this morning.
Story Continues Below Ad ↓Hassan Elmasry, managing director of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, unsuccessfully challenged the Sulzberger family's control of New York Times Co. through super-voting stock that gives them a board majority. Shareholders owning 42 percent of the company, parent of the namesake newspaper and Boston Globe, withheld support for directors at the publisher's April annual meeting.
"This guy has been speaking for a lot of people who are too discreet to speak up and challenge management,'' said Porter Bibb, a managing partner at Mediatech Capital Partners LLC in New York and a former New York Times Co. executive.
New York Times shares slid 43 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $18.48 at 4:04 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the lowest since January 1997. The stock has declined 24 percent this year. [...]
Chief Executive Officer Janet Robinson said in December that the Sulzberger family has no intention of eliminating the dual-class stock structure, and that the board is comfortable with Sulzberger holding the title of chairman and publisher.
Shareholders have also criticized the company for spending $410 million to acquire the About.com Web site in March 2005 and $500 million on a new headquarters. In response, the company said its Manhattan skyscraper is now worth more than $1 billion, and About.com's sales rose 28 percent in the second quarter to $23.5 million.
If Elmasry has sold the stock, "it's almost a dead certainty there would be a bailout of other institutional holders,'' Bibb said in an interview. "If that happens and there is a sharp drop in the share price, the Sulzbergers have to sit down and decide whether now is not a good time to take the company private.''
Hat tip: kch50428.
—Matthew Sheffield is the creator of NewsBusters and its Executive Editor.
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Comments Policy
Liberalism Fails Again!
October 18, 2007 - 10:02 ET by Sergeant ROCKCan it be that there's no market for marxist/socialist/liberal ideals?
Given this example, and many others, one wonders why so many Republicans worry about being too conservative?
Swan Song
October 18, 2007 - 10:30 ET by pocomocoSulzberger: I'm melting, melting!
Whoever is shorting this
October 18, 2007 - 10:39 ET by dscottWhoever is shorting this stock is making gobs of money, the problem I see is where is the uptick in order to start the short?
As I see it given the two tier stock control, the only hope for this company is for the Bond Holders to exercise their contractual rights over equity value to take over the company. The two tier system may be great to stop a direct hostile take over bid, however, some smart money person will still be able to grab up enough bonds to force a technical default due to the low share price just like a bank can declare a mortgage in default due to low LTV ratio from a depressed housing market even though the payments are made on time by the home owner. I believe the NYT is in technical default if not very close if only the bond holders would exercise the option.
Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity
Here is an article from AT
October 18, 2007 - 10:57 ET by dscottHere is an article from AT on this possibility. http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/09/pinch_sulzbergers_achilles_hee.html
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/09/financial_woes_for_the_new_yor.html
If they end up writing down any more assets, they're done and Sulzberger can go suck an egg.
Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity
Uptick Rule Gone
October 18, 2007 - 11:23 ET by CaringwhiteguyI believe the Exchange recently did away with the uptick rule.
One radio station
October 18, 2007 - 10:32 ET by candanceOne radio station in Michigan drops Rush Limbaugh, and the Left promotes it as proof he is rapidly declining....yet they ignore the disaster of Air America and keep propping up the NYT on life support. Those people are simply insane.
card holding member of the vast right-wing conspiracy
TRUE...
October 18, 2007 - 13:04 ET by danybhoyI remember that story about El Rushbo & that deal in Michigan. Now that I've been reminded, I would like to see what has happened to their ratings since. Right in the crapper I would guess.
I love it that the NYT is taking on water, I believe news coverage would improve without these idiots setting the far left news agenda for the day, everyday. Someone is buying the shares if they were sold off, I just wonder if Soros or someone like him is going after it.
"Some of us are wise, some of us are otherwise" Mark Levin
Rush was dropped by a station?
October 18, 2007 - 14:05 ET by Six String SpiffWhich one?
The American Revolution Continued
It is worth noting that no
October 18, 2007 - 10:37 ET by Gat New YorkIt is worth noting that no other news organization committed more slander against those three Duke lacrosse players than The New York Times. It happens that the Chairman of Morgan Stanley is an active Duke alumni and he recruited one of those students, David Evans to be an Analyst. I'm sure there were many more reasons to dump the stock but wouldn't it be a fitting epitaph for the Times if this was one of them.
It sickens me how the Left
October 18, 2007 - 10:42 ET by candanceIt sickens me how the Left can defend Michael Vick because he was "raised that way" but immediately assume the three Duke boys were guilty - then do NOTHING to apologize when they're caught flat-out wrong.
PS I lived in the "deep south" for many years and never, ever thought it was okay to bet on dog fights.
card holding member of the vast right-wing conspiracy
The ole double-standard.
October 18, 2007 - 10:44 ET by Gat New YorkThe ole double-standard.
Abandon Ship!
October 18, 2007 - 11:04 ET by acumenThe Pinch code of ethics Gat. Little wonder the NY Times is sinking. Was that an old grey lady in a lifeboat I saw out in the East River yesterday?
In all seriousness, what is the opinion of your fellow New Yorkers about Morgan Stanley cashing out? I was curious if they are still in the Times camp.
Circulation of the NYT has
October 18, 2007 - 11:14 ET by Gat New YorkCirculation of the NYT has been sliding lower and lower. In New York it is irrelevant because they do not cover New York news unless it meets their agenda. The NY Medal of Honor Winner, Michael Murphy, was one example. Most people subscribe to Newsday, The Daily News, or The New York Post. If New Yorkers were behind the NY Times you would nto have seen Morgan Stanley sell out their shares. Sulzberger Jr. is simply incompetent and is surrounded by highly paid syncophants who tell him what he wants to hear and publish what he wants to preach.
There was a time in New York when the Sunday NY Times was a morning tradition with the family. In those days opinions were only in the Op-Ed section, articles were factually and fully covered, and the paper was allowed to be used as a credible source in school work. Now its a yellow tabloid rag.
Thanks Gat
October 18, 2007 - 11:25 ET by acumenGood info...
Global Cooling
October 18, 2007 - 10:48 ET by allanfThe New York Times five year stock chart, (Wall Street Journal subscription required) looks like "global cooling". A steady decline from 52 to 18.
Keep making 'em proud Pinch.
One would think that with
October 18, 2007 - 11:16 ET by Gat New YorkOne would think that with the rise of Democrats and the popularity of liberal MSM, particularly in a liberal town like New York, that their fortunes were in reverse.
Clearly Pinch is ruining the family business in the name of his own personal agenda.
Unless the family relinquishes Board seats and/or control we could be witnessing the demise of this paper.
New York
October 18, 2007 - 11:41 ET by allanfThe Sunday Times is not the staple it once was in New York. On a daily basis, you see fewer and fewer people with copies of the Times. Perhaps it is the 1.25 single issue price. But, the times is not what it once was.
Keep it up Pinch. I hope you get what you deserve.
"fewer and fewer people
October 18, 2007 - 11:53 ET by Gat New York"fewer and fewer people with copies of the Times"
I think it is apparent to most people that it has become a propaganda rag and not the tool of indepth information it once was 20 years ago. They once had great columnists. Now they have that theatre critic Frank Rich, and those unhinged characters Maureen Dowd and Paul Krugman. It also forgets about "New York" news unless it is in their interest.
Oh, they'll survive
October 18, 2007 - 11:23 ET by rbchaffeWith PBS showing free infomercials for the NYT, how can they possibly suffer?
NYT
October 18, 2007 - 11:44 ET by Sergeant ROCKSo, maybe NYT will become the print version of PBS? At taxpayer expense, of course.
The travel section is about
October 18, 2007 - 11:53 ET by easygoerThe travel section is about the only thing in the NYT worth reading
Bob Dylan- Times They are
October 18, 2007 - 12:24 ET by MidAmericaBob Dylan- Times They are a Changing
The line, it is drawn, the curse, it is cast
The slow one will later be fast
And the present now will soon be the past
The order is rapidly fading
The first one now will later be last
For the times, they are a changing
I saw this yesterday! I am still dancing!
October 18, 2007 - 14:02 ET by Six String SpiffI laughed so loud my boss came over and asked me what was so funny, and when he saw, he laughed his but off too!
Hey NYT, how does it feel? Let us all hope this continues.
Side note: If this affects the stock market in a negative way, will they still claim a 'recession', or will they admit that it really is doing fine?
The American Revolution Continued
This is why they think the
October 18, 2007 - 14:11 ET by dscottThis is why they think the country is in recession and the economy is bad, one look at their stock price and their liberal MSM buddies for the last 6 years, you would think it was if you didn't bother to look at Newscorp. The liberal universe of stocks is in Recession!
Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity
Some good news is better
October 18, 2007 - 14:46 ET by kathleenirishSome good news is better than no good news.
Love the crash-n-burn of the NYT- keep driving it into oblivion, Punchy!
Anyone who says they support the troops but not the mission is a liar.
When he heard this news, I
October 18, 2007 - 15:25 ET by stratmanWhen he heard this news, I imagine Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger "pinched a loaf" in his man diaper.
How ya sleeping these days, Artie?
Seen Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal lately? Most everyone else has and will continue to do so.
Killing them with kindness isn't working. Time to get scrappy with the Donkeys.