Fit to print
Getting editorial at The New York Times
Good morning, media mavens. This is your Stock Market Rundown for February 19th, 2024. Thanks for joining me for another week of financial fun times. Let’s dig in:
TODAY’S TOP STORY: PROFITS AT THE PAPER OF RECORD
Over the years it’s been accused of bias and even plagiarism. But through it all, The New York Times has remained the country’s leading daily news journal—where Americans go to read the first draft of history.
Since 1997, the Times has been publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange. But what most people don’t know is that the single largest individual shareholder of the Times is not an American, but the wealthiest man in Mexico.
Carlos Slim is the 8th richest person in the world, with a net worth topping $100 billion. Now 84, Slim built a business empire spanning construction, real estate, oil, and mining.
But his cash cow is América Móvil, Latin America's biggest mobile telecom firm. Getting a few cents out of 373 million phone bills every month has gotta be quite a moneymaker.
Slim’s stake in the New York Times was initiated back in 2009, when he provided a $250 million loan to bolster the recession-ravaged business. It’s not known exactly what made him want to invest in an American newspaper… maybe he was a huge Sudoku fan?
Whatever the motivation, it’s paid off nicely. While most media operations have been in turmoil for the past decade as advertisers shift their spending from print to online, The Times has been thriving.
Their secret? Lean into digital, and don’t just rely on news. Some of The Times’ most successful content has been in games and cooking. (Apparently this New York Times recipe for oatmeal-raisin cookies is the best ever… thank me later.)
The strategy is working: The Times now has ten million paid digital subscribers, and annual digital revenue just hit $1 billion. Who knows, maybe now Donald Trump will actually stop referring to them as “the failing New York Times.”
SO WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
Layoffs watch: With corporate telecom spending as slow as the WiFi at your grandma’s house, Cisco is cutting 5% of its global workforce.
A court just slapped Pfizer with $93 million in penalties for conspiring to delay the generic version of its blockbuster cholesterol drug. Make billions of dollars by bending rules, pay millions in fines when you get caught… for Big Pharma, it’s just another day at the office.
While the US economy has avoided a recession, the folks across the pond haven’t been so lucky. Britain’s economy shrank in the second half of 2023. The UK's economic performance is a lot like a typical British summer: fleeting moments of brightness overshadowed by prolonged periods of gloom.
Some US lawmakers are urging regulators to block Shein from going public, accusing it of using forced labor. Shein’s IPO may be in more danger than a Shein customer who drops her cigarette on her polyester skirt.
That's the end of today's briefing, pals; let’s reconvene bright and early tomorrow. Yours in capitalism, The Axe