Written by John O’Donnell, Online Trading Academy
The valuations of many newspapers is down by 90% or more over the ten to twenty years. A recent headline announced the sale of the Boston Globe by its parent company, The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT). Not including any operating profits or losses over the intervening years, The New York Times lost $1.325 billion with The Boston Globe over 20 years since the purchase in 1993.
How did The NYT lose $1.325 billion on a $1.1 billion purchase (1993)? The Globe was sold as part of the sale of the entire New England Media Group which also included a number of local media entities, including The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, which The NY Times bought for $295 million in 1999.
If the Worcester paper purchase were included the 94% loss in my Chart of the Week video (below) would be increased to 95%.
Sources:
New York Times Company Sells Boston Globe (Christine Haughney, The New York Times, 03 August 2013)
John O’Donnell’s Chart of the Week – 9/12/2013 (YouTube, 12 September 2013)