LA Billionaire In Talks To Buy The Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune is reportedly selling the region’s flagship newspaper to LA billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong for about $500 million.

According to The Washington Post, Tronc Inc has reached a deal with Soon-Shiong, a Los Angeles physician and a major Tronc shareholder. The sale ends Tronc’s troubled reign at the Los Angeles Times, which reached a head earlier this month when the newsroom staff voted overwhelmingly to unionize following turnover at the top. Soon-Shiong is the founder and CEO of Culver City’s NantHealth.

Tronc and its predecessor Tribune Co. frequently clashed with the newspapers and local readers over the long distance management of two revered local papers. The Tribune and Tronc eras saw multiple rounds of layoffs, gutting newsroom staff.

The Tribune bought the Times in 2000 and held onto it through a series of layoffs and a bankruptcy in 2008. Since 2000 the paper has shrivelled from a newsroom staff of 1,300 to about 400, according to The Washington Post.

The paper reports that Soon-Shiong often clashed with Tronc management over Soon-Shiong's criticism of Tronc's corporate spending on perks such as private jet travel. Despite its struggles, the Los Angeles Times remains profitable with nearly half a million print subscribers and more than 30 million digital readers in December.

“It’s still very big and has a great franchise,” said Rick Edmonds, media-business analyst at the Poynter Institute told the Washington Post. “I think they could get a pretty good price. It’s an attractive property.”

Click here for The Washington Post story.

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)