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Mexican Billionaire Increases 'NYT' Stake, Eyes 'Newsweek'

New York Post, Sunday, May 9, 2010 10:35 PM

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is wheeling and dealing his way through the media world. Sources say Slim is sinking more money into The New York Times Co., doubling his current 7% stake, while also visiting the offices of Newsweek, the Washington Post-owned newsweekly that was put up for sale, says the New York Post.

The expanded investment in the Times makes Slim its largest independent shareholder, after the previous biggest shareholder, Phil Falcone's hedge fund Harbinger Capital, sold 4.75 million shares last month. At the same time that he's getting in deeper with the Times, sources said Slim also met with Newsweek executives last Wednesday.

Such media turmoil presents a great opportunity for Rupert Murdoch to get a jump on his NYT rival. Newsweek, the newsweekly launched in 1933, is up for sale. And Murdoch should buy it, suggests AOL News. But if Murdoch bought Newsweek, he could tweak it into a hefty weekend magazine, one that would come with a recognizable brand. Plus, since the Weekend Journal is delivered on Saturdays, the reworked magazine would have the potential to scoop the Times'.

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