In all seriousness though, the following 8 billionaires own the newspapers you read (online now), the news programs you watch, and the media you consume. Sheldon Adelson The Las Vegas Review Journal Net Worth: $35 billion Back in December 2015 tongues were wagging because the Las Vegas Review Journal (or RJ to locals) had been sold and no one knew who the new owner was. Well, the newspaper’s own reporters outed billionaire Sheldon Adelson as the owner (and many were quickly fired after that). The buy was controversial because traditionally the RJ had been critical of Adelson. Since his purchase, reports have continually surfaced that Adelson has been influencing the paper’s coverage of himself. Jeff Bezos The Washington Post Net Worth: $105 billion The world’s richest man bought The Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million. He was accused at the time by Republicans and the Trump campaign of trying to force a liberal agenda with the purchase. The Wapo has always leaned left but the paper’s stance on taxing online retailers hasn’t changed since Bezos became the owner. Michael Bloomberg Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Media Net Worth: $56 billion Michael Bloomberg began his career as a partner at Solomon Brothers. He was fired in 1981, but fortunately he had a severance package with $10 million that he used to set up his own financial software company, Innovative Market Systems. The company used the Bloomberg Terminal, a computer system he created. He renamed the company Bloomberg LP in 1986. The company eventually expanded into business news. Bloomberg LP alos bought Business Week magazine in 2009 for $5 million. Cox Family Atlanta Journal-Constitution Jim Kennedy net worth: $8.2 billion The Cox family owns and controls Cox Enterprises, which owns the Atlanta newspaper as well as a number of other daily newspapers alongside Cox Cable and many other media properties. The company was founded by James Cox. His first foray into media was in 1898 when he purchased the Dayton Times. Today his grandson Jim Kennedy runs the family empire that includes seven daily newspapers, 14 broadcast television stations, and 59 radio stations. John Henry The Boston Globe Net Worth: $1.5 billion John Henry is the billionaire owner of the Boston Red Sox. He bought the Boston Globe for $70 million in the fall of 2013. In fact, he bought the Globe just a few days after Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post. Prior to Henry, The New York Times had owned the Globe for 20 years. Rupert Murdoch News Corp Net Worth: $13 billion Rupert Murdoch started his journey in the news in the 1950s when he founded News Limited, the company that beget News Corp and 21st Century Fox. News Corp is the parent company of cable TV channel Fox News, making Murdoch one of the most powerful media tycoons in the world. News Corp also owns The Wall Street Journal and 120 other newspapers in five countries. Donald and Si Newhouse Advance Publications Donald Net Worth: $11.1 billion Si Net Worth: $13 billion Donald and Samuel “Si” Newhouse are brothers who inherited Advance Publications, a privately held media conglomerate that owns and controls a number of newspapers, magazine, cable TV and entertainment assets. Advance owns newspapers in 25 cities and is the U.S.’s largest privately held newspaper company. Conde Nast is a division of Advance and publishes Wired, Vogue, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker. Mort Zuckerman U.S. News & World Report, New York Daily News Net Worth: $2.5 billion Mortimer Zuckerman made his money in real estate. In 1984 he bought U.S. News & World Report and serves as the chairman and editor in chief. The paper is best known for its Best Colleges rankings. Zuckerman bought the New York Daily News in 1993 when it was in bankruptcy. In 2015, he spent six months trying to sell the tabloid paper. He was not successful.
