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Tuesday, August 3, 2010

He Overpaid

Sidney Harman, the 91 year old husband of congresswoman Jane Harman is buying Newsweek from the Washington Post Company. The price: one dollar (and the assumption of Newsweek's debts. The verdict: he grossly overpaid.

Newsweek lost about 35 million dollars in 2009 and is likely to los about 20 million more this year. The magazine was changed from a weekly news summary to a "journal of liberal opinion" during the last twelve months. It is highly unlikely that such a magazine will ever earn enough to cover the current losses. Harman may want this as a plaything, but even though he is extremely wealthy, he is unlikely to keep tossing tens of millions of dollars into a rathole.

It seems that it is time to say goodbye to Newsweek. Maybe not today, but soon, soon.

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