Billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong plans to take LA Times public over next year
Shiong unveiled his plans to launch a public offering for his newspaper on 'The Daily Show' with Jon Stewart on Monday night.
'We'll allow it to be democratised and allow the public to have ownership of this paper,' Soon-Shiong said on The Daily Show, according to the Bloomberg report. 'Unless you have truth and trust, I think we're not going to have healing in this country.'
Shiong has been at the helm of the newspaper since 2018, when his Nant Capital investment vehicle purchased it in a $500 million deal. South Africa-born Soon-Shiong helped steady the business after a clash between its editorial staff and the previous owners.
According to the information on the company's website, The Los Angeles Times is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country, with more than 40 million unique latimes.com visitors monthly, Sunday print readership of 1.6 million and a combined print and online local weekly audience of 4.4 million. The Pulitzer Prize-winning LA Times has been covering Southern California for more than 143 years.
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