Publisher Tronc completes sale of LA Times to billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, and may ditch its own awful name
The deal ushers in a new era for the iconic California newspaper and its former Chicago-based owners
Publisher Tronc completed its US$500 million sale of The Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune to biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong on Monday, ushering in a new era for both the Chicago-based newspaper chain and its former California holdings.
Tronc also is looking to shed its much derided corporate moniker, and bring the Tribune name back in some form, according to sources.
In a story published Saturday, Soon-Shiong, Tronc’s second-largest shareholder, told the Los Angeles Times that he hoped to convince the board to replace the Tronc moniker.
“I think we need to go back to Tribune,” he told the paper, which he has agreed to buy from Tronc in a US$500 million deal. “I always thought Tronc was a silly name.”
On Monday, Soon-Shiong performed his first major move, installing Norman Pearlstine as executive editor of the The Los Angeles Times . Pearlstine has spent 50 years in journalism helping shape some of the nation’s most prominent publications – including Time Inc magazines, Bloomberg News, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal.