Word: gannett
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...vehicle for Neuharth's reinvigorated ambitions is the Freedom Forum of Arlington, Va., formerly the Gannett Foundation, whose assets consisted entirely of stock donated by the communication firm's founder. Upon retirement, Neuharth retained the foundation's chairmanship. Last year he infuriated his former employers by deciding to sell all that stock -- 10% of Gannett's shares -- to the highest bidder. Reason: dividends on the Gannett stock were less than the amount the institution is required to give away...
Neuharth's announcement amounted to putting the company in play for corporate raiders. Last April, Gannett fended off the threat by buying the foundation's holdings for $670 million, $130 million more than the company had previously offered. As part of the sale, Neuharth agreed to rename the foundation...
Neuharth struck again last month when the Oakland Tribune (circ. 137,000), America's only black-owned metropolitan daily, announced it was about to go bankrupt. In a highly publicized rescue, the Freedom Forum committed $7.5 ! million in loans and guarantees to the Tribune while Gannett swallowed $29 million of the newspaper's debt. Freedom Forum acquired rights to one-fifth of the Tribune...
...Gannett officials refuse all comment on Neuharth, but the voices of employees and company trustees -- current and former -- frost over when his name is mentioned. "There's bad feeling and bad blood," says the editor of one major Gannett paper. Adds an executive with the Washington Journalism Review: "They loathe him and don't want...
Meantime, Neuharth has created a truly baronial fiefdom at a swank building across the street from the headquarters of Gannett and USA Today. Renovations for the building (carved stone staircases, suede-covered file cabinets) cost $15 million. A $5 million high-tech conference center on the roof is under construction...