Now that Don Graham and family have agreed to sell the Washington Post, some media watchers think the Sulzberger clan, which controls The New York Times, will face renewed pressure to put their crown jewel on the block.
Like the WaPo, the Times has two classes of stock allowing the family to retain a firm grip on operations.
But some think that while the dual-class structure is strong enough to keep invaders out — it may not be enough to quell internal dissent.
The Sulzberger family has gone without a dividend since 2009, robbing the cousins and other members of a revenue stream.
That can’t make them happy.
“The New York Times will be next; they are the last man standing,” predicted Douglas McIntyre, editor of 24/7 Wall Street.
CEO Mark Thompson said the company would rather keep its $900 million cash on hand in the till rather than pay a dividend.
“You get a generation or two that runs the company the way the founders wanted it to be run,” said McIntyre.
“Then after three or four generations, you have these huge families springing up with no real interest in running the company and they want to know where the money is.”
“Certainly, [Times Chairman] Arthur Sulzberger is well paid — many of his relatives are not,” said McIntyre.
Noted Ken Doctor, an analyst at Outsource, “The Graham sale puts more pressure on the Sulzberger family trust in two ways:
First, family members who have an inclination to sell can point to the Graham family and say, “Look, they think this is the time to get out. We simply don’t have the capacity to continue.”
Second, the WaPo got a huge premium on its financial value, given that it is marginally profitable or unprofitable, depending on different arithmetic, Doctor said.
In that sense, Bezos “overpaid” by $200 million, Doctor noted. So Sulzberger family members can say, “If the Post is worth $250 million, we’re worth $1 billion, at least. Let’s take the money now.”
Times shares gained 1.7 percent yesterday to $12.08, near a 52-week high.
Of course, with the Times now carrying a value of $1.8 billion, the Sulzbergers would have a hard time finding someone with pockets that deep.
Still, according to McIntyre, the Sulzbergers “have to see the handwriting on the wall.”
A Times spokeswoman said Chairman Arthur Sulzberger “has said as recently as today that the Times is not for sale.”