LA Times owner says he'll take the paper public

The owner of the Los Angeles Times plans to take the newspaper public in the next year. 

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong told Jon Stewart on Monday's episode of "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" that he was "working through" the move with "an organization that's putting that together right now." 

Soon-Shiong said the plan will "allow the public to have ownership of this paper," he said.

Soon-Shiong did not say whether the deal would involve an initial public offer to sell shares of the company or another investment arrangement.

"Whether you're right, left, Democrat, Republican, you're an American. So the opportunity for us to provide a paper that is the voices of the people, truly the voices of the people, is important," he said.

Soon-Shiong, who made his fortune in the pharmaceutical and biotech fields, bought The Times in 2018. Financial reports from 2024 indicate that the news organization lost $50 million last year. During his ownership, The Times has undergone several newsroom layoffs. 

The newsroom union, The L.A. Times Guild, has not released a statement yet. 

Variety reported that in 2020, he blocked the editorial board from endorsing Elizabeth Warren in the primary but allowed an endorsement of Joe Biden in the general election. For 2024, Soon-Shiong blocked the endorsement for Kamala Harris. 

His decision led to the head of the editorial board to resign. He has changed the name of the Opinion section to “Voices,” which now includes an AI guide that indicates whether the opinion is left or right-leaning. 

Additional reporting by City News Service.