• The Independent, Tuesday, August 1, 2006 12 PM

David Geffen, the music mogul and founder of DreamWorks SKG film studio, is among three West Coast billionaires to have made bids for the Los Angeles Times--only to be rebuffed, reports the Independent. While news of the emergence of serious bidders for the paper will build pressure on owner Tribune Co. to sell off the unit, Geffen was told by company CEO Dennis FitzSimons that he will not currently negotiate a sale--although he held out for the chance that this might change. Some estimates suggest the LA Times could sell for as much as $3 billion. Rumors of Geffen's interest in the Times have been on the LA party circuit since last summer, the Independent says, and he is one of three well-heeled Southern Californians to have made an approach--the other two being real estate investor Eli Broad and Ron Burkle, a supermarket magnate.

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