What David Geffen Sees In The New York Times

It’s the hottest topic on two coasts. Why in the world would David Geffen, perhaps the shrewdest investor Hollywood has seen in years, want to plunk down $200 million or so for the 19.9% stake in the New York Times Co. held by hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners? Like most newspapers, The New York Times, which owns its fabled Gray Lady flagship, the Boston Globe and other assorted assets, is losing tons of money. Worse yet, with ad sales that make up 59% of its overall revenues tanking and not likely to fully recover, the Times is fast becoming a non-profit institution. [Click for MORE]

• Inside David Geffen's play for The New York Times

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Who Will Control the New York Times?

Sources: Geffen made an offer for hedge fund's big stake

Every day for months now, pundits and peanut gallery members have weighed in on the subject of what The New York Times might do to save itself. The prevailing wisdom is that the Times - arguably the most influential and well-regarded newspaper on the planet - is in peril of disappearing, and jeez, if the Grey Lady can't survive, who will, and what does that portend for the future of journalism? But that's an overstated view - in reality, the Times newspaper is holding up better than many of its competitors amid the media meltdown, and the company's problems are largely corporate in nature. So a better question is: who might end up controlling the newspaper and what will they do with it?

Just in the past several weeks, two overtures involving the largest block of The New York Times Co. shares outstanding and two of the biggest names in media and technology offer a glimpse at the intrigue surrounding the company. Last month, sources tell me, former Hollywood mogul David Geffen made an offer to buy the 19% stake in the Times held by hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, but no deal was struck. (Geffen and Harbinger declined to comment.). And a few weeks before that, Scott Galloway, a Web entrepreneur and New York University Business School professor who is one of two Harbinger appointees on the Times board, made an overture to Google co-founder Larry Page about Google buying the Times Co. Even though Google CEO Eric Schmidt has publicly lamented the state of the newspaper industry and dismissed the notion of Google investing in it, people involved said the company looked seriously at the opportunity before deciding to pass. [Click for MORE]

• The Wrap.com posts this afternoon, based on an unnamed source "close to the negotiation," that the deal fell through because Geffen and the fund could not agree on a price.

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Rumor du Jour: Geffen and Zell Talking About LAT

From LA Observed:

Just passing along what I was told this morning from a possibly good source — no confirmation, no independent reporting, no warranty implied. But my contact travels in the right circles to have picked up the scent and reports hearing from "three excellent sources (all with first hand information)" that David Geffen is in talks with Sam Zell to buy the Los Angeles Times from Tribune. The talks are serious enough, my source hears, that the moguls may have been close to a deal last week. For what it's worth. [LAO]

> What to make of LAT rumors Sphere: Related Content