Let me ask you a trivia question!
Question: This firm recently netted $100m on an investment made 7 years ago in a help-wanted classifieds startup. Assuming it invested approximately $2m then[1], that is a 75% annualized return, one that any early stage venture fund would be proud of.
It presently has investments in WordPress’s parent Automattic, digital bookmarks co Bitly and NYC-based social media incubator Betaworks (which …
Today, most newspapers in USA have either instituted a paywall (typically some variant of the metered model) or are considering one actively. Hey, even Buffett the legendary investor recommends paywalls stating “…you shouldn’t be giving away a product you’re trying to sell. That’s key to the future of the newspaper”.
However, one of Buffett’s investee companies, The Washington Post Co has thus far been content to stay away from any …
A recent update on the State of the Media website commenting on the Newspaper Industry’s performance in 2011, spoke about the disproportionate importance of the Sunday edition, and how it could lead Publishers into de-emphasizing the weekday edition.
Thank God it’s Sunday!
According to the State of the Media report, about 35-50% of newspaper advertising revenue now comes from the Sunday edition. If we add to it the Sunday edition’s …
Originally written on 24 May ’12, updated subsequently.
Last week’s announcement that Warren Buffett’s World Media Enterprises Inc., is acquiring 63 daily + weekly papers across Southern USA from Media General for $142m has created significant buzz across news blogs and commentary sites.
This is Buffett’s 2nd deal in the newspaper space of late – previously in Dec’11 he announced the acquisition of Omaha World-Herald, and other dailies …