Following a months-long bidding war that began back in February, Red Sox owner John W. Henry purchased The Boston Globe for $70 million on Saturday.
In a statement issued to The Globe, Henry said nothing specific of his plans for New England’s major daily paper, only that keeping it alive and well is important to him.
“This is a thriving, dynamic region that needs a strong, sustainable Boston Globe playing an integral role in the community’s long-term future,” he said.
Henry owns 80 percent of NESN, and originally submitted a bid for the paper alongside Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, who owns 20 percent of the network. But when the NESN group decided to back out, Henry stuck it out as a solo bidder. The New York Times Co. chose him over investors hailing from the West Coast and down south, and even over the Taylor family, who submitted a bid alongside Former Time, Inc. Chief Executive Jack Griffin. The Taylor family published and owned the Boston Globe before selling to the Times Co. in the 1990s.
Nevertheless, Henry’s cash offering and (mostly) successful time with the Red Sox netted him the paper and all of its related properties, which include boston.com and BostonGlobe.com, The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, and a 49 percent interest in the Metro Boston commuter newspaper.
The Times Co.’s decision did not sit all that well with the losing bidders, according to a piece the Globe published Monday. Three potential buyers say that their bids were higher than Henry’s, and that the bidding process, not transparent even to bidders, was skewed in Henry’s favor.
John Lynch, chief executive of the U-T San Diego newspaper, said in an e-mail to the Globe, “It was clear they didn’t want to sell to us, or wanted to sell to Henry.’’
The piece does not specify how much the other bidders offered the Times Co.
However it came about, Henry’s ownership of the paper is seemingly good news for The Globe. Poynter’s Rick Edmonds has provided us with seven things to consider about the transaction, all of them good points. For one, the real estate upon which The Globe offices sit is valued at nearly $70 million itself, so even if the paper continues to deteriorate financially, Henry’s investment was sound (not that it matters all that much—Forbes estimates his value at about $1.5 billion).
Boston Business Journal Executive Editor George Donnelly, however, contends that Henry “bought himself a $70 million ass-ache,” with which he will be able to experiment for a little while before inevitably having to cut jobs as advertising revenue and circulation continue to decline. He also notes that The Globe does some of its best reporting by “go[ing] after some of the very people Henry invites on his yacht.”
But on a more optimistic note, Poynter’s Edmonds writes, “The paper now gets a fresh start and an owner who can be presumed to be a builder rather than a cost-cutting, profit-harvesting liquidator.”
It remains to be seen what Henry does at the helm of The Globe, but this is the man who managed to make the Red Sox world champions for the first time since 1918—twice. Perhaps he will prove himself once again capable of putting one of Boston’s most important institutions back on top.
