Funds Put the Screws to Stubborn 'Times'

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Mixed Media

by Jeff Bercovici

Main

Gawker 1, Scientologists 0 How Katie Couric is Like Rip Van Winkle

Jan 28 2008 9:47AM EST

nyt%20stock.jpg

Once again, an investment fund -- actually, a pair of them -- is pushing The New York Times Co. to do something about its moribund stock price.

Harbinger Capital Partners Funds and Firebrand Partners are lobbying to get four nominees, including Firebrand CIO Scott Galloway, elected to the Times's board of directors, according to both the Times itself and The Wall Street Journal. The two hedge funds want to see a greater emphasis on digital media and a divestment of assets, such as the Boston Red Sox, seen as irrelevant to that goal.

But the Sulzberger family, which controls the Times, doesn't much like being told how to run its business. In October, Morgan Stanley gave up on a similar effort to elicit action, instead opting to sell its 7.3 percent stake in the paper. That move sent Times stock reeling to a 10-year low of $18.48 per share; on Friday, it closed at $14.66.

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