"Slim could boost stake in Times Co." Bloomberg News January 13, 2015
NEW YORK — Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is poised to become the largest shareholder in The New York Times Co. after already almost doubling his money from an investment that helped the newspaper get through the financial crisis.
Slim, who has amassed a $73 billion fortune, loaned $250 million to the Times Co. in January 2009. After already getting repaid and then some, the world’s second-richest person is now on track to boost his holdings if he exercises options by a Jan. 15 deadline. He’d then own almost 17 percent of the Times Co.’s Class A shares, a stake valued at about $349 million.
Slim’s financial return shows just how much the Times Co. sacrificed for his help. But it also illustrates how confident he was in the storied newspaper’s future — even as readers and marketers flocked to the Internet. His deciding to hold a bigger stake would be “a vote of confidence in the Times,” said Ken Doctor, a media analyst.
In 2009, the Times Co. canceled its dividend to preserve cash and a credit line was expiring. Slim bought it time to find buyers for assets like The Boston Globe. It has since cleaned up its balance sheet, put up a website paywall, and introduced new products.
The warrants Slim gained in 2009 let him buy shares for $6.36 apiece, about half of the Times Co.’s $12.57 closing price on Monday. That gives Slim $6.21 in potential profit for each of the 15.9 million shares he’s allowed to buy, or almost $100 million.
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My printed Boston Globe never told me if he exercised his option.
Related: A $lim Middle Class in Latin America
That's really pouring $alt in the wound, 'eh?
UPDATE:
I'm sorry that I am going to be slimming down my agenda today after having planned a big day of catch-up because I have been feeling nauseous all day with alternating hot and cold flashes with threats of the squirts. I sure hope it is not the new flu -- or something worse.
Hopefully it's just a stomach bug and I will be able to return early tomorrow. Sorry, readers.
