Billionaires Set to Fight Over L.A Times

Supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, left, businessman Eli Broad and Hollywood mogul David Geffen, are seen in this combination of file photos. Billionaires Burkle, Broad and Geffen haven't taken off the gloves but all signs point to them fighting for ownership of their troubled hometown newspaper, the Los Angeles Times. (AP Photo/File) (AP)

LOS ANGELES -- Like a train wreck or a car accident, when rich people do battle, everybody stops to watch. Billionaires Ronald Burkle, Eli Broad and David Geffen haven't taken off the gloves but all signs point to them fighting for ownership of their troubled hometown newspaper, the Los Angeles Times. The fortunes of the Times, the nation's fourth-largest daily newspaper, are being watched closely by a newspaper industry beset by sales, staffing cutbacks and circulation drops.

Last week Burkle and Broad teamed up to bid for Chicago-based Tribune Co., which acquired the paper in 2000 when it bought Times Mirror Co. Details were not disclosed. It's believed that if they succeed they would sell off Tribune's other newspapers, TV stations and its baseball team _ the Chicago Cubs _ and keep just the Times.

Geffen, who has feuded with Broad for years, has not submitted a bid but is known to be extremely interested in the Times and could seek financing for the estimated $15 billion or more it might take to purchase Tribune Co. to get it.

The Tribune's ownership of the Times has been rocky. Disputes between the paper's leaders and its corporate owners over costs and profits has led to the dismissal of two Times publishers and two editors. The latest to leave was editor Dean Baquet, who quit last week.

Tribune signaled its willingness to sell all or part of the company in September after being pressured by several large shareholders _ among them the Chandler family that sold the Times to Tribune for $6.5 billion _ angered by its lagging stock price and sagging circulation.

Many in Los Angeles would like to see the Times returned to local ownership. However, there is some trepidation about whether an owner like Geffen, Broad or Burkle _ none of whom returned calls seeking comment _ could check their egos and not interfere in news coverage, particularly when that coverage focuses on them or their holdings.

"Whoever buys it has to put aside all ego and do this as a public trust," said Steven J. Soboroff, a civic leader who in September signed a letter urging Tribune management not to make further staff or budget cuts at the Times. "If the local buyer is unable to do that, we will be wishing for many years the Tribune never sold them."

Former Times editor John Carroll, who left last year, said he would be happy if any of the three contenders bought the paper.

"Local ownership is no guarantee of success, but Tribune ownership seems to be a guarantee of failure," Carroll said. "My hopes are with the billionaires."

Adding to the intrigue is the adversarial relationship between Geffen and Broad, which dates to their roles in the ultimately successful effort to secure the 2000 Democratic National Convention for Los Angeles, according to a profile of Broad in "Vanity Fair" magazine.

Still, Geffen, Broad and Burkle have much in common. Each rose from modest circumstances to great wealth. Each is a philanthropist. And each actively supports the Democratic Party.

Of the three potential owners, Burkle is the only one who has made previous attempts to buy newspapers. In February, through his Yucaipa Cos. investment firm, Burkle joined forces with union workers at nine Knight Ridder Inc. newspapers in an effort to buy the chain.