Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong’s purchase of the Los Angeles Times in 2018 helped some staffers feel like the paper was “on the brink of a golden era.”
Seven years later, after the billionaire ordered the paper to cancel its endorsement of Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election, pushed out most of its editorial and news staff and launched various side projects bearing the paper’s name, he plans to raise $500 million as he tries to take the paper’s parent company public.
Soon-Shiong’s company, The Los Angeles Times Media Group, said on Thursday it was working to make shares available to the public after it raised funds through a round of private placement financing. Afterward, shares would be available on the New York Stock Exchange. The money would help the company focus on the paper’s journalism.
Soon-Shiong first revealed in July that he planned to take the paper public.
The newly named company is comprised of Soon-Shiong’s NantGames, a gaming company; NantStudios, a film and television production company; LA Times Studios, a company named after the Times focused on podcasting and live events; and the storied paper.
“With the launch of the LA Times Media Group, we bring these capabilities together as one integrated platform, where accountable journalism meets cutting-edge technology, and where our community is invited to join us as partners in shaping the future of storytelling,” Soon-Shiong said in a statement.
The private placement round would make shares available at a preferred rate — as little as $5,000 — to accredited investors with a 7% annual interest rate, and those shares could become a regular share for a 25% discount once they’re available to the public.
Soon-Shiong told the Times in an interview that the combined company was “at a place of efficiency,” and that he would not consider offloading the paper individually. “We committed as a family to support and maintain the integrity of the whole newsroom together with activating this platform so we can engage with a broader global audience,” he said.
Soon-Shiong’s management of the paper and hat-tips to the Trump administration have rankled its staff in recent years as it faces dwindling revenue and losses of tens of thousands of subscribers. It let go 20% of its staff last year through several rounds of layoffs, and on Thursday, 85% of its union authorized the ability to call a strike after prolonged negotiations over a new contract.
His own comments about the paper have also ruffled feathers. After initially saying last year he didn’t want the paper to endorse Harris in the 2024 election over fears that “it would just add to the division,” Soon-Shiong told conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly on Thursday that he made the decision because he “didn’t believe, frankly, that she would be competent as the President of the United States.”
“That was a decision we made, and I think I’m very comfortable still with that decision,” he said.
LA Times Union Authorizes Strike by 85%