Geffen Eyes Another Medium: The Times
He helped build the careers of Joni Mitchell and the Eagles, created a record company and then joined a couple of other entertainment moguls to form a movie studio.
Now, could David Geffen really want to own a newspaper -- specifically, the Los Angeles Times?
Three well-known civic figures in Los Angeles said they had heard Geffen in recent weeks talking about how he would like to take control of The Times, owned by Tribune Co.
Geffen met with Tribune Chief Executive Dennis J. FitzSimons this summer to say he was interested in buying the paper.
"We had a meeting at his request, with no disclosed reason in advance," FitzSimons confirmed in a telephone interview. "At that point, he indicated his interest in the paper. And I told him it was not for sale."
FitzSimons said he considered the issue a dead one and that any additional advances by Geffen would not change his mind. He declined to provide any other details -- including whether Geffen made a specific offer.
Geffen declined to comment, said a spokesman at the studio he helped found, DreamWorks SKG.
Ever since Chicago-based Tribune Co. bought the Times in 2000, reports repeatedly have surfaced about wealthy and powerful Angelenos toying with the idea of buying the newspaper.
Among those reportedly interested in The Times have been: Eli Broad, who has fortunes from home building and financial services; Haim Saban, an entertainment magnate who first scored big with the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers"; and Michael Milken, who made a fortune in junk bonds.
"People, when they get to that level, they always think they can do it better," said one city power player who spoke on condition of anonymity because he said his conversations with Geffen were supposed to be confidential. "I think I could do a lot better with the L.A. Times too."
This businessman said the DreamWorks executive's interest in The Times had persisted, even after FitzSimons rejected his overture during a meeting in Los Angeles.
"He has reiterated his interest to me. I believe him," the business leader said. "It's not just something [Geffen] said and then is going to move on to something else."
Since Tribune bought the newspaper five years ago, The Times has flourished journalistically, winning 13 Pulitzer Prizes, but stumbled financially, with daily circulation falling from 1,018,000 to 902,000 last year.
