
Los Angeles Times to go public, owner Soon-Shiong says
"We're literally going to take LA Times public and allow it to be democratized and allow the public to have ownership of this paper," Soon-Shiong said on "The Daily Show" in a taped interview with the host, Jon Stewart.
The billionaire owner of the newspaper said the model would resemble the public ownership structure of the NFL's Green Bay Packers and that a partner organization was working on the structure.
The move follows months of turmoil at the Los Angeles Times.
Last January, the paper laid off at least 115 staff, or more than 20% of its newsroom, amid continued financial losses and leadership exits, including Executive Editor Kevin Merida and Managing Editor Sara Yasin. At the time, Soon-Shiong said he paper was losing $30 million to $40 million annually.
The papers editorial's editor also resigned last year after Soon-Shiong reportedly blocked a planned endorsement of then-Vice President Kamala Harris, triggering subscriber backlash.
Soon-Shiong, who is also the founder of ImmunityBio (IBRX.O), opens new tab, bought the LA Times along with other newspapers in 2018 for $500 million from Tronc.
LA Times did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on additional details.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
25 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
AOC hit with $3K bill for splashy 'Tax the Rich' dress at 2021 Met Gala appearance
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been asked by a congressional ethics panel to repay costs associated with her Met Gala appearance where she wore a white and red 'Tax the Rich' dress. The House Ethics Committee released a sprawling 26-page report into AOC's lavish trip and recommended she pay $3,000. Once she does the probe will be considered finished. The congresswoman's office did not respond to a request for comment. Longtime Vogue boss Anna Wintour invited the young Democrat and her then-fiancé as a guests to the Met Gala in 2021 and ordered a designer to 'dress AOC for the Met.' White with bright red lettering, AOC's 'Tax the Rich' dress certainly stirred reports at the time. That same dress, along with some some accessories from designer Brother Vellies, should've cost the progressive over $3,700 in rental fees, the report found. Her team only paid $990 for the dress, shoes, jewelry, handbag, floral headpiece, according to the committee. It claimed that the fair market rental price of the dress was just under $3,000, but AOC's team only paid $300. The tickets to attend the event that year costed $35,000 each. 'While the Committee did not find that Representative Ocasio-Cortez's violations were knowing and willful, she nonetheless received impermissible gifts and must bear responsibility for the other conduct that occurred with respect to the delays in payment,' the report states. If Ocasio-Cortez declines to pay the bill requested, the committee could recommend a range of disciplinary actions from additional fines to a formal reprimand or censure. The 10-member ethics panel also concluded that AOC's 'conduct was inconsistent with House Rules, laws, and other standards of conduct.' Another point of tension over the visit was Ocasio-Cortez filing her then-fiancé as a spouse on House disclosures. The ethics panel won't seek any further action against AOC if she pays $2,733 for the fair market price of her rentals and dishes out $250 for her former partner's ticket. The progressive 'Squad' leader was previously ordered to pay back costs for her dress rental and other accessories in 2022. Staffing issues were called out by the committee investigators. They found that Ocasio-Cortez's staff was 'overly reliant on the vendors themselves to ensure the congresswoman's compliance with the Gift Rule.' At least one of the staffers that were involved with the misfilings have left the Democrat's office. The lawmakers reported that AOC's staff and counsel did attempt to 'keep costs down' and that the designers agreed. 'Committee did find evidence suggesting that the designer may have lowered costs in response to statements from Representative Ocasio-Cortez's staff, and that payments to vendors were significantly delayed and, in several cases, did not occur until after OCC (Ethics) initiated its investigation.'


The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
House ethics panel tells AOC to make more payments over her Met Gala ‘Tax the Rich' outfit
The House Ethics Committee has told Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, to make more payments over her Met Gala 'Tax the Rich' outfit. While the Met Gala is always an eye-catching affair, in September 2021, Ocasio-Cortez stunned onlookers with a Brother Vellies custom white mermaid gown that had the words 'Tax the Rich' written in red on the back. At the time, the congresswoman explained on Instagram she wanted to bring attention to the idea of raising taxes for the wealthiest Americans by doing so 'in front of the very people who lobby against it,' per the Daily News. The event cost $35,000 per person at that time, The New York Times reported. For years, the ethics panel has been investigating Ocasio-Cortez's attendance at the 2021 Met Gala, and now it says she must make additional payments worth nearly $3,000 in relation to the event. The panel released a report Friday stating the estimated rental cost the congresswoman had paid for the dress and some of her accessories in 2022 was below fair market value. 'The Committee found that she failed to fully comply with the Gift Rule by impermissibly accepting a gift of free admission to the 2021 Met Gala for her partner [Riley Roberts] and by failing to pay full fair market value for some of the items worn to the event,' the report read. But the panel did not find evidence Ocasio-Cortez 'intentionally underpaid for any goods or services' related to the gala. 'In many instances, the congresswoman relied on the advice of counsel in determining appropriate payment amounts, and most discussions about payment were handled through a campaign staffer,' the report read. Ocasio-Cortez previously paid just shy of $1,000 for her Met Gala outfit, but the panel found its fair market value to be worth more than $3,700. The panel said the congresswoman did make 'significant steps' to comply with House gift rules and advised her to pay an additional $2,733.28 to settle the matter. The congresswoman was also advised to donate $250 to the Met's Costume Institute for the cost of Roberts' meal at the 2021 gala. Mike Casca, Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff, said in a statement obtained by The Hill, 'The Congresswoman appreciates the Committee finding that she made efforts to ensure her compliance with House Rules and sought to act consistently with her ethical requirements as a Member of the House.' 'She accepts the ruling and will remedy the remaining amounts, as she's done at each step in this process,' Casca added.


Reuters
27 minutes ago
- Reuters
US startup xLight raises $40 million in race against China for key chip-making laser
PALO ALTO, California, July 22 (Reuters) - Silicon Valley startup xLight has raised $40 million, aiming to build the first prototype of a new class of laser that could shake up the global chip industry and reclaim U.S. leadership in a field that China is aggressively investing in. XLight's laser - based on the same technologies as massive particle accelerators used by U.S. national labs in cutting-edge physics research - will sit at the heart of what are known as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines. EUV machines are the tools primarily responsible for the creation of smaller, faster chips. In a world where advances in fields such as AI are determined by how many chips Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and other chip companies can supply, xLight is aiming to help chip factories, called "fabs" in the industry, turn out more of the dinner-plate-sized silicon "wafers" that contain advanced chips more quickly and cheaply. "This is the most expensive tool in the fab. It's what drives the cost of the wafer more than any other tool in the fab, and it's what drives capacity more than any other tool in the fab," Nicholas Kelez, CEO of xLight, said at the company's Palo Alto headquarters. XLight declined to disclose its valuation. It expects to have an operational prototype in 2028. The EUV machines themselves took the chip industry decades to develop, and Europe's ASML ( opens new tab is currently the world's only supplier. ASML and xLight do not have a business partnership, but technical leaders at ASML have provided xLight with the requirements a laser must meet to be considered for use in ASML's machines. The U.S. government has worked across multiple presidential administrations to stop EUV machines from being sent to China, with one official calling it the "single most important export control" held by the U.S. and Europe. China has responded by pouring resources into the field, with a close manufacturing partner of national champion Huawei Technologies ( claiming breakthroughs in developing its own EUV laser and more than a dozen research papers appearing at international conferences chasing the same technological path as xLight. A U.S.-based firm named Cymer perfected the first EUV laser technology and was scooped up by ASML more than a decade ago for $2.5 billion, helping create ASML's dominant position in the market. "There was a terrible mistake made giving Cymer the ability to become a European-owned and controlled company," said Pat Gelsinger, former CEO of Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab who now serves as executive chairman of xLight's board and is a general partner at Playground Global, one of xLight's investors. Many of xLight's prototype components will come from U.S. national labs as xLight works to build a supply chain in the U.S. and allied countries. "We can build that here, or it can be built elsewhere. China is investing heavily in this space. There's an extraordinary backstory here that says, 'Let's get this one right,'" Gelsinger said. The financing round was led by Playground Global and joined by Boardman Bay Capital Management. Morpheus Ventures, Marvel Capital, and IAG Capital Partners also joined the round. (This July 22 story has been corrected to clarify that xLight and ASML do not have a formal business partnership, in paragraph 7)