LA Times Owner Denies Report of Possible Sale as Hedge Fund Attempts Takeover of Tribune Publishing

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong (Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images for NantHealth, Inc.)

Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of the Los Angeles Times, is denying a Wall Street Journal report that he is thinking about selling the paper, less than three years after acquiring it.

Soon-Shiong denied the WSJ report on Twitter, saying “WSJ article inaccurate. We are committed to the @LATimes.”

“Dr. Soon-Shiong and his family continue to invest in and plan for the future of the Los Angeles Times, and do not plan to sell the company,” an LA Times spokesperson told Mediaite in a statement.

According to WSJ media reporter Lukas Alpert, Soon-Shiong, who acquired the newspaper in 2018, has “grown dissatisfied with the news organization’s slow expansion of its digital audience and its substantial losses.” Soon-Shiong also reportedly believes that the newspapers “would be better served if they were part of a larger media group,” the WSJ report said.

The fight against the coronavirus has also played a role, according to the WSJ. Soon-Shiong, who is also a doctor and has pioneered breakthrough cancer treatments that made him a billionaire, has reportedly been focused on his immunotherapy company’s efforts to fight the coronavirus. “Covid really brought him back to the lab,” a source told the WSJ.

Soon-Shiong acquired the LA Times, the San Diego Union-Tribune, and several other local Southern California newspapers in June 2018 from Tribune Publishing for around $500 million. Soon-Shiong retained about a 24% stake in Tribune Publishing, which may soon be acquired by hedge fund Alden Global Capital in a proposed $630-million takeover deal, pending shareholder approval.

The WSJ report said that Soon-Shiong has reportedly considered selling or transferring management of the Union-Tribune to another company, possibly Alden, which already owns several papers in Southern California.

UPDATE–Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi has tweeted an image of an internal email apparently from Chris Argentieri, president of parent company California Times, to employees, addressing the WSJ story and reiterating that Soon-Shiong does not plan to sell the LA Times. “Dr. Shoon-Shiong and his family continue to invest in and plan for the future of the California Times, which includes the L.A. Times and San Diego Union-Tribune, and do not plan to sell,” the email said. “It’s unfortunate that the Journal chose to publish the story and we’re sorry for any concern it may have caused.”