L.A. Rainmaker
Billionaire Eli Broad wants nothing less than to remake his adopted city
Eli Broad never met a schedule he couldn't love. Although he is a world-class art collector, he moves through even the best museums as if he's fleeing a burning building. His regular Sunday hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains with good friend and former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan consist of Broad charging up the trail, taking in the view for five seconds, then barreling back to the bottom. A newshound who built two Fortune 500 companies and a multibillion-dollar fortune, Broad (rhymes with road) whizzes through the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times each morning before most people can conquer a double cappuccino. He rarely slows down to finish a story, unless, as someone close to him puts it, "it's about him."
But it's "about him" so often these days that just keeping up with himself threatens to throw Broad completely off schedule. One of the richest (net worth $5.8 billion), most powerful (as much clout as the mayor), and most philanthropic men in Los Angeles (and the nation), Broad is a blunt force in business, the arts, education reform, and politics. He is the city's leading cultural rainmaker, the major mover behind its $1.8 billion downtown redevelopment, and a powerful liberal Democrat who really can make things happen simply by picking up the phone. For those reasons alone, he has long been a familiar face in the press, particularly the Los Angeles Times, his hometown paper. And, if he has his way, it could be covering him from a different angle as well: as its owner.
Last month, Broad, who made his billions in real estate and insurance, and Ron Burkle, who made his in supermarkets, together joined a small group of suitors making bids for the Tribune Co., which owns the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, among other newspapers, several television stations, and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Under pressure from California's Chandler family, which owned the L.A. Times for decades and holds 20 percent of the company's shares, Tribune Co. put itself on the block in late September. Broad, whose bid calls for a debt-heavy recapitalization of the company, is said to be vying for Tribune with at least two private-equity firms, including one that represents the Chandlers and News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch. None of the parties would comment on the confidential auction, which could drag on for months. Entertainment billionaire David Geffen (the "G" in DreamWorks SKG) also has offered $2 billion solely for the L.A. Times.
Broad has said that if he and Burkle get the company, which is valued at roughly $14 billion, they may sell off most of the assets, keeping only the L.A. Times, which could be managed by a public trust. "I believe that a newspaper is a great civic asset and that ownership is best in the hands of foundations or wealthy families that want to own it for reasons other than maximizing profits," Broad, 73, said in an interview in the art-filled Los Angeles headquarters of the Broad Foundation. "I also believe newspapers should remain in local hands."
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