Rupert Murdoch mulled offer for the New York Times

Posted Nov 15th 2007 7:04PM by Jonathan Berr
Filed under: Forecasts, Deals, Marketing and Advertising, New York Times'A' (NYT), News Corp'B' (NWS), Dow Jones and Co (DJ)

Mysterious is the mind of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. Now comes word that the News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) CEO considered making a bid for The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT). Exactly how long the mogul entertained such a notion isn't clear. Of course, he eventually went after Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ).

Can you imagine a New York Times owned by Murdoch? Frank Rich, Thomas Friedman, Paul Krugman, and Maureen Dowd probably couldn't either. I am sure the four of them would have screamed bloody murder at the thought of working for Murdoch. New York Times Chairman Arthur Sulzberger, whose family has a iron-clad grip on the publisher, would never sell. But Murdoch, who sees The Times as a symbol of all that's bad and liberal about the media, knows all of these and many other reasons why he will never own the Grey Lady. So, why would he waste his time with such a ludicrous idea? I have no idea but DealBook, The Times' business blog, has a novel theory.

"it's possible that the crafty media baron is playing games with the paper he wishes to destroy." the site says.

You think?

Tags: dj, Frank Rich, FrankRich, Maureen Dowd, MaureenDowd, New York Times, NewYorkTimes, nws, nyt, Paul Krugman, PaulKrugman, rupert murdoch, RupertMurdoch, Thomas Friedman, ThomasFriedman, Wall Street Journal, WallStreetJournal