Tronc chapter set to end at storied LA Times
LOS ANGELES — Biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong on Monday will take control of the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune, two historic newspapers rooted in Southern California civic life for more than 135 years.
Soon-Shiong is spending $500 million to acquire the Times, the Union-Tribune, Spanish-language Hoy and a few community newspapers from Chicago-based Tronc, which also owns the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and Orlando Sentinel, among others. The deal, which was announced Feb. 7, returns the Times to local ownership after 18 turbulent years under Chicago control.
Changes will be felt almost immediately. SoonShiong, who will become executive chairman of the California News Group, plans to move most of the 800 employees to El Segundo by the end of July, vacating the paper’s Art Deco headquarters in downtown Los Angeles — the Times’ home since 1935.
Soon-Shiong, a 65-yearold South Africa native and former UCLA surgeon, amassed a fortune, estimated by Forbes at $7.5 billion, by building, and then selling, two biopharmaceutical companies. Since then, he has been on a mission to personalize cancer treatment and develop vaccinations for deadly diseases. Owning the Los Angeles Times is his highestprofile venture.
Soon-Shiong has promised to rebuild the Times and to bring stability to a newsroom that has been led by three editors in 10 months and five publishers in four years. His purchase saved the paper from more steep cuts as Tronc had been making plans to close the Washington bureau and, according to Soon-Shiong, lay off as much as 20 percent of the staff.
Although Soon-Shiong said the Times must grow digitally, he said he has no plans to abandon print.
“We will be the last man standing if that’s what it takes,” he told employees at a meeting in April.