Washington, Aug 3: The Washington Post Company on Monday announced that it had signed a contract to sell the iconic Newsweek magazine to audio tycoon, Mr Sidney Harman.
The deal was completed on Monday morning, and Mr Harman, 91, beat several other bidders to win the deal, Xinhua reported.
The deal ends almost a half-century of ownership by the Washington Post Company, which bought Newsweek in 1961. The magazine was founded on February 17, 1933.
Mr Donald Graham, chairman and chief executive officer of The Washington Post Company, said Mr Harman had promised to keep most of the magazine’s staff.
The terms of the deal were not announced, but Newsweek website quoted sources close to the negotiations as saying Mr Harman had agreed to pay a small amount in cash and to ass-ume tens of millions of dollars in financial obligations.
The Newsweek’s editor, Mr Jon Meacham, also announced he would be leaving the company once the sale is complete. No decision on who will replace Mr Meacham has been made.
Mr Tom Ascheim, Newsweek’s current chief executive officer, will remain in that role under the new ownership. The deal is expected to be concluded by the end of this month or early September.