Chinese billionaire businessman Chen Guangbiao said in a recent interview that although his attempt to buy the New York Times has encountered some obstacles, he has not given up on his dream of ownership and is now looking to team up with American entrepreneurs in hopes that a group bid will be successful.
Chen, who made his fortunes in recycling, said last week that while it might be a bit strange, people should not take his bid for the paper as a joke. He said he currently does not hold any shares in the company stocks but that he intends to buy Class A common shares. The New York Times is estimated to have a value of U.S. $2.3 billion.
Chen said he has raised nearly U.S. $1 billion and intends to use the funds, along with money he's been able to raise from an unnamed Hong Kong businessman, to buy a controlling stake in New York Times. However, company owners, the Ochs-Sulzberger family, not only control most of the seats on its board of directors but also hold the majority of the company's Class B shares. Class B shares are not subject to trade on the public market.
Even if Chen could buy a controlling stake of the publicly available common shares, he'd only have, at the most, 30% of the votings rights; from a financial perspective, that would give him over 99% of the dividends. Still, the Ochs-Sulzberger family, who's had control of the paper for nearly a century, refused to hold talks with Chen. Arthur Sulzberger, the chairman of the newspaper, recently stated that the New York Times is not for sale.