The stereo magnate, long a leading contender in the bidding war roundup to buy Newsweek from the Washington Post Company, has sealed the deal to take over the financially struggling magazine, according to the Wrap. A report in the Times last week, which also indicated Harman was likely to win the deal, claimed that Harman would pay $1 for the magazine and assume all of its hefty debt. This comes after several bidders that worried Newsweekers (one with conservative news engine Newsmax, and one that potentially involved an office merger with the publishers of the National Enquirer) were ruled out. It seems like a good fit for the magazine, which needed a patron committed to making Newsweek’s voice heard, even through troubled financial times. Though, with Harman now in his 90s, staffers today are probably toasting to his good health for more reasons than one. They shouldn’t worry, though: Harman once told the USC News, “My own longevity and that of others I know emits from an erotic love affair with life.”
