Tronc Agrees to Sell Los Angeles Times to Billionaire Doctor
- 6 years ago
Tronc Agrees to Sell Los Angeles Times to Billionaire Doctor
The Los Angeles Times, one of the country’s most prominent newspapers whose reporting has exposed municipal corruption, felled local figures
and chronicled California’s relentless natural disasters, is being sold to Patrick Soon-Shiong, a billionaire Los Angeles doctor, for $500 million.
“We are certain that the journalistic excellence in Southern California will continue long into the future.”
Dr. Soon-Shiong became a major shareholder in Tronc, formerly called Tribune Publishing, in 2016 as the company
and Mr. Ferro tried to stave off a takeover attempt by Gannett, the publisher of USA Today.
“We are pleased to transition leadership of The Los Angeles Times
and The San Diego Union-Tribune to local ownership,” Justin Dearborn, the Tronc chief executive, said in a statement.
It would also represent a significant retreat for Tronc, which entertained national
and international ambitions after Michael W. Ferro Jr. became the company’s chairman and biggest shareholder two years ago.
Its decision to sell The Times, its crown jewel, comes after months of turmoil
and management turnover at the paper, during which journalists increasingly clashed with Tronc executives and the leaders they had sent to run the paper’s newsroom.
The Los Angeles Times, one of the country’s most prominent newspapers whose reporting has exposed municipal corruption, felled local figures
and chronicled California’s relentless natural disasters, is being sold to Patrick Soon-Shiong, a billionaire Los Angeles doctor, for $500 million.
“We are certain that the journalistic excellence in Southern California will continue long into the future.”
Dr. Soon-Shiong became a major shareholder in Tronc, formerly called Tribune Publishing, in 2016 as the company
and Mr. Ferro tried to stave off a takeover attempt by Gannett, the publisher of USA Today.
“We are pleased to transition leadership of The Los Angeles Times
and The San Diego Union-Tribune to local ownership,” Justin Dearborn, the Tronc chief executive, said in a statement.
It would also represent a significant retreat for Tronc, which entertained national
and international ambitions after Michael W. Ferro Jr. became the company’s chairman and biggest shareholder two years ago.
Its decision to sell The Times, its crown jewel, comes after months of turmoil
and management turnover at the paper, during which journalists increasingly clashed with Tronc executives and the leaders they had sent to run the paper’s newsroom.