Harman Buys Newsweek Magazine

[Oldmics]

Todays purchase.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/business/media/03newsweek.html

Its his birthday today.

Lets all celebrate :crying:

Oldmics

[Titanium Dome]

Here's my take on what his new magazine's first investigative report should be.

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?29143-Sidney-Harman-must-be-bored.

[robertbartsch]

I hope I look that good at his age; dido for Jane.

I assume he is not crazy about the recent moves at Harman Inc. but he no longer calls the shots. I would say during the last 15 years or so, Harman Inc. has lacked strategic vision about the future of the company. Some of the unfortunate current decisions are being made as a consequence of these actions.

Anyway, print media is a very bad investment at any cost. The value is in content and, therefore, he must convert the content into a digital form in order to make a return on investment.

[Mr. Widget]

I hope I look that good at his age; dido for Jane.It's already too late for me. :crying:



I assume he is not crazy about the recent moves at Harman Inc. but he no longer calls the shots.I don't think he gives a damn.


Widget

[louped garouv]

Anyway, print media is a very bad investment at any cost. The value is in content and, therefore, he must convert the content into a digital form in order to make a return on investment.

could be part of the plan???

capitalize on an 'established,' 'trusted' name...
change the operational model into digital distribution

the BBC seems to be having quite a bt of sucess with their new 'app'

[scott fitlin]

I don't think he gives a damn.


WidgetI agree, at his age, and what he has accomplished in his lifetime, as well as the fortunes and reputation he has, I think he would even think he has done all the right things and made all the best moves. Sidney Harman has a really good reputation in our society, maybe not with us for what has happened to JBL, but with everyone else as a role model of an exemplary business person, and leader in what defines SUCCESS.


And you know what? Dr. Sidney Harman really does look terrific for his age.

[robertbartsch]

If Dr. Sidney Harman grew up from meger means in the USA and sold radios as a kid and then bult a multi-national company that was once-upon-a-time the envy of all others, I can't believe he does not care about US-based JBL/Crown employees and the companies he built/bought.

If this is true, he must be one cold-hearted sole.

Then again, he did wish to sell Harman to a private equity firm but that deal collapsed.

Dr. Sidney is likely a billionair, and the new media company acqusition is probably purchased for peanuts, so it is likely just a toy for him to keep busy until the end.

[louped garouv]

Dr. Sidney is likely a billionair, and the new media company acqusition is probably purchased for peanuts, so it is likely just a toy for him to keep busy until the end.

i read that he tendered an offer of $1 in cash, coupled with the assumption of a rather large portfolio of liabilities.... (i understand he didn't assume responsibility for the pension, from news articles)

[jcrobso]

They way he did JBL!:crying::(

[robertbartsch]

According to the 10/09 proxy statement filed with the SEC, Sydney Harman was still a member of the board of directors of Harmon Inc. and was paid $35K for that year. Further, the table showing the direct and indirect ownership of Harman shares by management does not include Sydney's name, so it appears he, his family and all related parties to sydney own less than 5% of the company.

[robertbartsch]

Private equity firms, Capital Research Global Investments, Capital World Investors, and Pennent Capital Magt. own 10%, 7% and 5%, respectively of Harman Inc.

The CEO, Dinesh Palwal owns less than 1%.

From this, I would assume, Syndey and family now own zip of Harman Inc.

[doyall]

I hope I look that good at his age; dido for Jane.

Oh, the miracles of modern medicine.

[boputnam]

According to the 10/09 proxy statement filed with the SEC, Sydney Harman was still a member of the board of directors of Harmon Inc. and was paid $35K for that year. Further, the table showing the direct and indirect ownership of Harman shares by management does not include Sydney's name, so it appears he, his family and all related parties to sydney own less than 5% of the company.I gotta say, it impresses me you guys read that stuff - too few investors do. Well done.

One small correction, if I may: Harman was paid $38,500 during Fiscal 2009 (a prorated amount of 55% for full-year performance, net of expense reimbursement), but according to footnote (6) he retired (read: retreated) from the BoD as of the date of the 2008 AGM (20091208). He, like Elvis, has left the building. With KKR and CapRe in there, I am sure they helped him find the (back) door... :(

[robertbartsch]

Thanks. me = CPA who specializes in IPO readiness, so I read and write this "stuff" all the time.

Anyway, my take is that Sydney built/bought the company from scratch, probably from the back of a pickup truck and that after decades he grew old and realized the company lacked strategic vision so he decided to cash out.

Being a smart guy, however, he must have known any prospective buyer, especially PE firms, would install a CEO who would squeeeeeeze the grapefruit hard and extract all the "missing" juice - ASAP. The obvious place to restructure first would be the USA.

I would have to guess Sydney did not wish to see JBL/Crown closed in the US but economics and capitalism are stronger than wishes.

This is a sad day.....

[scott fitlin]

I would have to guess Sydney did not wish to see JBL/Crown closed in the US but economics and capitalism are stronger than wishes.

This is a sad day.....Yes, I agree with this. But, you can't put the genie back in the bottle. Once a NEW CEO had the power, they then did what they saw fit to do, and that is the end.


:dont-know:

[robertbartsch]

Harman Intl is a public company, so if Sydney stayed but then died later, the board would have had to find another CEO, anway and the new guy would probably make some painful choices too.

They need to develop new products for the future and those may not involve sound, sound reinforcement or electronics.

Communist China and India graduate 7 times as many engineers as we do in the USA. Unfortunately, the future of Harman Intl will likely come from Asia.

[4313B]

Communist China and India graduate 7 times as many engineers as we do in the USA.Unfortunately their populations are absurd. In short, they're screwed.

[BMWCCA]

Within the last year, or so, I renewed my Newsweek subscription though an unbelievably low-ball offer of something like 25¢/issue if I renewed for three years. Might have been even less! Soon after, the magazine changed its format and shrunk to about 50 pages, going for the "call-out" and white-space format, heavy on columnists, canceling the in-depth well-researched reporting of involved stories I read it for in the first place and, instead, relying on the same format of "sound bites" and short-attention-span presentation our 24-hour news cycle on TV finds so successful.

So, I guess my life-long allegiance to JBL and Crown brought me into the Harman family, which in turn unceremoniously dumped me by selling off the entire family to the bean-counters, closing Northridge, and moving Crown's production to China. Now I get duped by Newsweek into swelling their coffers in advance of receiving benefits, just in time for that cost-cutting, and now I'm once again a member of the Harman family . . . sort of, and still unknown whether that's for better or worse. :dont-know:

[robertbartsch]

After reading the the NY Post and WSJ for 30 years, I have stopped buying newspapers; there is no value there at $1 and $2 per copy, respectively.

Cable TV with 600 channels, the Net, and smart phones came along and now it is rare to see a good stereo in homes today. Movies are now $14! Thats a problem for Harman Intl.

Newsweek is now loosing staff faster than Tiger Woods is loosing majors.

Bean counters are important; those who don't count their beans may wake up find they have none. Unfortunetely, thats happening here in the USA.