Posting crazy-looking pictures of people always
makes us feel better.Photo: Patrick McMullan
Holy moly! We thought it would never happen. Arthur Sulzberger Jr. has loosened his viselike grip on the Times and agreed to give Scott Galloway a seat on the board. In case you missed it, Galloway (shown in a picture we can not get enough of) is a former ZBT frat boy who reportedly refers to himself a “vagilante,” and the founder of Firebrand partners, a hedge fund that, along with Harbinger Partners, recently amassed a 12 percent stake in the Times. The two groups were leveraging said stake to get four seats on the Times board; however, Sulzberger gave them only two. Still, the Times itself points out, this is the first time the family given seats to people nominated by outsiders since 1967, so it’s nothing to sneeze at. Galloway will occupy one of the two seats; the other will be occupied by James Kohlberg, the chairman of Kohlberg & Company, who was also nominated by Firebrand/Harbinger. Harbinger’s Philip Falcone, who recently bought Bob Guccione’s mansion, was not invited. The hedge funds have said that their aim is to get the Times to sell off some of its smaller assets (shares in the Boston Red Sox, the Boston Globe and smaller newspapers, and buildings like maybe even their headquarters) and focus more on digital media. Presumably, they also think they should drop the bridge column, but we’re just guessing.
Times Co. To Give Seats to Hedge Funds [NYT]
Earlier: Intel’s coverage of Scott Galloway
