Latest news with #Tronc
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
The LA Times' billionaire owner says he plans to take the paper public and 'allow it to be democratized'
The owner of the LA Times said he's going to take the paper public. Billionaire investor and businessman, Patrick Soon-Shiong, said the IPO will happen over the next year. The move would allow the paper to be "democratized," he said in an episode of "The Daily Show." Soon-Shiong, a businessman, investor, and medical researcher, broke the news in a Monday episode of Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show." "I'm going to announce something with you tonight," he said to Stewart. "Is that we're going to take LA Times public and allow it to be democratized, and allow the public to have the ownership of the paper." The announcement was followed by cheering and applause from the audience. Soon-Shiong, through his investment firm Nant Capital, took over ownership of the paper in 2018 and became its executive chairman. It was previously owned by media company Tronc. He said to Stewart that the IPO would go through over the next year. If it goes through, the LA Times will join other publicly traded news giants like The New York Times Co. Soon-Shiong is also the executive chairman of ImmunityBio, a biotechnology company that develops vaccines and therapies for cancer and other diseases. He said he grew up in South Africa during apartheid, without access to television, so he highly valued newspapers and radio. "As I grew up in South Africa, the only thing that inspired me and kept me alive was the newspaper," he said on "The Daily Show." He added, "So the opportunity for me, working on cancer and healing, hopefully curing cancer, is to have a place where the people, the voice of the people, truly the voice of the people, could be heard."
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
L.A. Times Owner Says He Will Take Newspaper Public in Next Year
The owner of the Los Angeles Times, Patrick Soon-Shiong, said on Monday that he would take the newspaper public in the next year. Dr. Soon-Shiong, a former surgeon who built his fortune by developing cancer drugs, bought the Los Angeles Times in 2018 for $500 million from Tronc, a media company that was, at the time, listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Since taking over the newspaper, Dr. Soon-Shiong has struggled to make it profitable, and a history of deep losses would cloud its appeal to investors. AdWeek reported that the L.A. Times lost $50 million in 2024 as paid subscriptions fell to just over 300,000. The newspaper laid off more than 20 percent of its newsroom staff last year. A public offering would happen 'over the next year,' Dr. Soon-Shiong said on 'The Daily Show' in a taped interview with the host, Jon Stewart. He did not share any details or address whether this would dilute his control over the newspaper. The 2018 purchase was carried out by Nant Capital, his private investment arm. That acquisition placed the newspaper under local ownership for the first time in nearly two decades, but his public comments in the past year and his decisions about editorial direction have stirred unrest in the newsroom. Last year, the head of the editorial board resigned after Dr. Soon-Shiong prevented the newspaper from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president. Dr. Soon-Shiong said on The Daily Show on Monday that taking the company public would 'democratize' it and would allow the public to 'take ownership,' though he did not detail how that would work.
