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Outlet profile

Los Angeles Times

U.S. center-left news reporting, with a centrist-to-right-leaning owner-directed opinion section

Owned byOwned by Patrick Soon-Shiong, a billionaire physician and biotech entrepreneur, through his investment firm NantCapital. He bought it from Tribune Publishing (tronc) in 2018. In 2025 he said he planned to take the paper public through a new company, the L.A. Times Next Network. I did not confirm whether that has happened.
FundingMostly subscriptions and advertising, plus ongoing financial backing from its billionaire owner. Press reports said the paper lost about $50 million in 2024, and some readers cancelled subscriptions after owner interventions in its opinion section.
On the administrationmixed

Background

The Times began publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Harrison Gray Otis became part owner in 1882 and incorporated it into the Times-Mirror Company in 1884. The Chandler family controlled the paper for generations, and under them it became one of the largest regional newspapers in the U.S. and won many Pulitzer Prizes. Tribune Company bought Times Mirror in 2000, and the paper later sat under Tribune Publishing and then tronc, a period marked by cost cuts and newsroom turmoil. Soon-Shiong's NantCapital bought the Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune in a deal reported at nearly $500 million in cash plus about $90 million in pension obligations, closing in June 2018. In October 2024 he blocked a planned endorsement of Kamala Harris and a series of editorials on the case against Trump, and the editorial board's editor resigned in protest. In early 2025, staff reported that he asked the editorial board to take a break from writing about Trump, blocked an editorial on cabinet confirmations, and softened critical headlines. He also added the pro-Trump commentator Scott Jennings to the editorial board. In 2025 he announced plans to take the company public through the L.A. Times Next Network. The paper's news coverage still generally reflects a center-left, California-focused perspective, while its opinion direction now depends heavily on the owner.

Sources

  1. Los Angeles Times (Wikipedia)
  2. Patrick Soon-Shiong (Wikipedia)
  3. Meddling for MAGA - Status
  4. LA Times owner Soon-Shiong finds his MAGA whisperer - Semafor
  5. Los Angeles Times owner plans to take paper public - Axios
  6. Who Owns the Los Angeles Times - Free Press

Profile compiled 2026-10-21; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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