The sale of the San Diego Union-Tribune and billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong’s subsequent promise to make the Los Angeles Times “self-sustaining” have generated fresh doubt about his commitment to the publication he bought for $500 million just five years ago with talk of a “hundred-year plan” to reinvent Hollywood’s hometown paper.
How time flies. Coming on the heels of 74 newsroom layoffs, offloading an asset like the Union-Tribune last week is a clear sign that Soon-Shiong’s investment in the Los Angeles flagship publication is struggling, and that the owner is taking extreme measures to offset financial losses.