In Pursuit of The New York Times

There seems to be a run on the New York Times group, or parts thereof, by retired or 'removed' CEOs.

First Jack Welch & Co. want to pry the Boston Globe away from the company.

Now we learn that AIG former-CEO Hank Greenberg is building a position in the parent company.

What gives with these ex-CEOs going after the NYTimes?

I've pasted a Yahoo-sourced price chart of the NYT vs. the S&P500 Index for the past five years (click on the chart to view the enlarged version). It isn't pretty. The newpaper group is down more than 40% over the period, while the index has risen roughly 20%, for a 60 percentage point difference.

Revenues are shrinking, as are profits. Over the five year period, revenues have oscillated, but finished essentially flat, while profits did about the same. Except for a recent, severe dip.

So, why the sudden interest by Greenberg and Welch in these basket case newspapers? Has nobody told them what Google, eBay and Yahoo are doing to the classified ad business of newspapers, as well as general print advertising? Are they unaware that many people receive their news online now, rather than reading a daily paper?

What would have to happen to turn these papers around? What is it Welch and Greenberg bring to the table that is missing from current management, or anyone else?

I am genuinely curious about why the sudden rush to either buy or dismember the NY Times group. Is it all charity and philanthrophy, to save the jobs of pressmen and beat reporters? Or do Greenberg and Welch see profits where nobody else does?