Posted on 04/21/2006 7:31:36 AM PDT by Kitten Festival
Arthur Ochs “Pinch” Sulzberger, Jr., the scion of a family dynasty founded by his great grandfather, is well into the process of destroying the patrimony handed to him on a silver platter. Even worse, the whole world is starting to notice, something which will make other family members distinctly unhappy. And because the family controls the election of a majority of the board of directors of the New York Times Company, despite owning a tiny fraction of the actual equity (thanks to a two class system of shares), this unhappiness could affect Pinch’s tenure in office.
No less an authority on corporate governance than Arianna Huffington, whose credentials are impeccable in matters of marriage, family fortunes, inheritance, and society soirees, noted on her eponymous website:
I hear the Sulzberger clan is also getting an earful from friends on the dinner party circuit from New York to Paris
Quite a bit of ink, and billions of pixels have been expended over the open challenge launched against Pinch’s reign or error by the company’s fourth largest investor, Morgan Stanley Investment Management. At the company’s annual meeting Tuesday, holders of 28% of the company’s equity voted against the management slate of directors, effectively saying in public that they want to dump Pinch and his cronies, as would happen in almost any publicly-held company performing as dismally as the Times.
There is delicious irony aplenty in the spectacle of a self-righteous lefty like Pinch, whose editorial page imperiously advises other companies on the fairness and morality of their corporate governance, clinging to power on the basis of a stock ownership scheme which disenfranchises the owners of the vast majority of equity, allowing them to elect only 30% of the board of directors.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Punch for later.
Ahhh, the sweet smell of liberal hypocrisy in the morning.
LOL.
"Pinch Gets Punched.."
The thread I posted this morning ties in with your thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1618900/posts
The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week (NY Slimes is #4)
The Street.com ^ | April 21, 2006
Posted on 04/21/2006 7:30:48 AM PDT by Grampa Dave
Opinion: The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week
4. Penny Ante The New York Times Co. (NYT:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) is feeling the pinch of aggrieved shareholders.
Big investors took a shot across management's bow this week by withholding 28% of votes from the company's board slate. A 5.6% holder, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, wants to eliminate the Class B stock that gives the Sulzberger family control of the board despite its tiny financial stake.
"MSIM believes that the dual-class voting at The New York Times Company, which is an exception to the general rule of one-share, one-vote, creates special privileges as well as responsibilities," the firm says in a Tuesday press release. "MSIM contends that the board and management at The New York Times Company have failed to fulfill these responsibilities effectively."
A look at New York Times' stock performance seems to bear the critics out. Shares of the publisher are down 5% this year and have lost half their value since they peaked in June 2002, as online rivals led by Google (GOOG:Nasdaq - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) and Yahoo! (YHOO:Nasdaq - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) have grabbed more ad dollars. The stock's plunge means that $1,000 worth of Times shares bought five years ago is now worth $610 or so, plus dividends of around $70.
The Times declines to comment on the board voting or on Morgan Stanley's claims. But the company did reach out to shareholders in a gesture that seems characteristically half-baked. On Tuesday afternoon, the Times raised its quarterly dividend by a penny a share, to 17.5 cents.
"We are pleased that in a challenging advertising environment, the company has remained committed to improving shareholder return through annual increases in our dividend," said Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. "We have grown our dividend by a compound annual growth rate of 7.1% over the last five years. These dividend increases reflect our board's confidence in the Company's long-term growth prospects and our financial position."
Sorry, but it's plain to see that no one else shares that confidence.
Dumb-o-Meter score: 82. Sulzberger is looking a bit pound-foolish.
Excerpted. Only #4, the part of the article dealing with the NY Slimes.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1618900/posts
NYT = Ny Slimes stock, WPO= Washington Compost stock, MNI= McClatchey stock, TRB= Chicago Tribune/LA Slimes Stock
Dave, you and me are liking this stuff too much, ain't we? ROFLMAO!!!
It is fun to watch the DUmmies self-destruct.
" the Sulzberger clan is also getting an earful from friends on the dinner party circuit from New York to Paris..."
Memo to all owners of The New York Times stock....SELL !!!
"" the Sulzberger clan is also getting an earful from friends on the dinner party circuit from New York to Paris..."
Hopefully, these elite limo liberal lunatics have lost a lot of money with the decline of the NY Slimes stock.
I wonder if Punched Pinch is being set up for removal in a vain effort to drive up the NYT stock. To me that would be like changing Captains on the Titanic after it hit the iceberg.
Turns out that Otis was something of a figure-head; the real power was in the hands of the family trust that controlled the stock. They could give two-figs about his championing of leftist ideals - they just wanted their dividends.
They assessed the declining fortunes of the media market and made a decision to get out. It wouldn't surprise me a bit to see the same things happen at the NYT, et al as the dominos begin to fall on their whole charade.
Whoa. If Pinch has lost Arianna Huffington his days are numbered.
The friends on the dinner circuit know that the grandson is giving himself big bonuses when the paper is losing revenue.
They would accept the self delivered bonuses if revenue was really up, but...
The dinner friends also know that Pinch is ( 1 ) wildly inflating the paid circulation numbers and that ( 2 ) the advertisers know that Pinch is trying to overcharge the advertisers with fake paid circulation numbers.
This will be continue to be fun to watch.
Their corporate culture of at least 8 decades of lying and hating America is coming home to roost for these pro Marxist bastards.
They assessed the declining fortunes of the media market and made a decision to get out. It wouldn't surprise me a bit to see the same things happen at the NYT, et al as the dominos begin to fall on their whole charade."
Lemura, you are not by yourself.
wouldnt that be something if this "paper" went into bankruptcy. I am beginning to like Pinch as CEO.
Doesn't look too happy----maybe it's his receding hairline?
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