Mike Bloomberg Actually Tried to Buy The New York Times: Report
Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire and former Republican mayor of New York City, has never had an easy relationship with the New York Times. He even told New Yorker editor David Remnick that “he detests the New York Times … [he] thinks that the New York Times has an opinion page on the front page and he loathes it.” But that didn’t prevent Bloomberg—who already controls his own shop, Bloomberg News—from trying to buy the paper.
Gabriel Sherman of New York magazine reports that Bloomberg approached chairman and Times scion Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. about acquiring the company in late 2013:
Near the end of Bloomberg’s time as mayor, he told Times chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. that he was interested in buying the Times, according to a source with direct knowledge of the conversation. Sulzberger replied that the paper was not for sale. Bloomberg’s overture, previously unreported, might be one reason why talk of a Bloomberg-Times eventuality has flared up among insiders in the wake of the most recent round of Times’ layoffs. Given the fact that both sides vehemently deny that there have been recent conversations (Sulzberger “can’t remember the last time he spoke with Bloomberg,” said a spokesperson), this may very well be wishful — or apprehensive — thinking being played out in the echo chamber of media gossip.
Sherman hints at one of the key differences between Bloomberg and Sulzberger: The former was raised in a middle-class Massachusetts family, while the latter was raised by the family that owns the Times:
Bloomberg has also discussed the Times with his financial adviser Steven Rattner, a longtime Sulzberger friend. Rattner, according to a source, has explained the Sulzberger family dynamics to people at Bloomberg LP. Rattner declined to comment.
This represents some progress, in fact. In 2012, a friend of Bloomberg’s told Sherman that “Mike hates heirs.” But not so much, it seems, that he doesn’t want what they have.
