George Pyle• Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong reaches deal to buy L.A. Times and San Diego Union-Tribune — Meg James and James Rufus Koren | The Los Angeles Times
On Wednesday, The Times’ corporate parent, Tronc, announced that it had reached a deal to sell The Times, the San Diego Union-Tribune, Spanish-language Hoy Los Angeles and community newspapers to L.A. biotech billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. His investment firm, Nant Capital, agreed to pay $500 million for the Southern California papers and it will assume $90 million in pension liabilities.
Remember?
• Utah billionaire philanthropist Jon Huntsman dies at 80 — Matt Canham | The Salt Lake Tribune
... Through the years, Huntsman has donated or committed to donate at least $580 million to the Huntsman Cancer Institute and has set up other investments to funnel money its way for decades to come. ...
... And, in 2016, he helped his son, Paul, negotiate the purchase of The Tribune, because he believed the state needed a major newspaper not owned by the LDS Church. Meeting with Tribune staffers, Paul Huntsman named his father chairman emeritus of The Tribune. ...
Hope it works out as well for Los Angeles as it has here.
Billionaires can be a lot of fun.
• Falcon Heavy, in a Roar of Thunder, Carries SpaceX’s Ambition Into Orbit — The New York Times
Once in orbit, the rocket sent back video of the spacesuit-wearing mannequin in the car, with a hand on the steering wheel. On the dashboard were the words “Don’t Panic,” a nod to Douglas Adams’s book “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”
Though I can’t believe more people haven’t been linking to this:
