America 1919-Chapter 949 - 324, The New York Times Changes Hands

Paul Warburg’s actions were swift.

As soon as he received the cash from the land Donnie provided, he immediately began reaching out to shareholders of "The New York Times."

In just two months, the Kuhn, Loeb & Co. consortium became the largest shareholder of "The New York Times" and garnered the support of other shareholders.

"Adolf has completely lost control of ’The New York Times’!"

Upon receiving news that the Kuhn, Loeb & Co. consortium had become the largest shareholder of "The New York Times," and that Paul Warburg had taken on the role of president of "The New York Times," Donnie offered his assessment of the situation.

Compared to outsiders, Donnie had a deeper understanding of the matter. Within the span of two months, Adolf Ochs had been wholly unaware of Paul Warburg’s actions, which clearly indicated that other shareholders were highly dissatisfied with Adolf Ochs’ series of decisions during this period at "The New York Times."

"Boss, what do you think the Warburg family will do next to Adolf Ochs?"

Café Jackson asked Donnie.

Although the Kuhn, Loeb & Co. consortium had now become the largest shareholder of "The New York Times," and Paul Warburg had replaced Adolf Ochs as president of "The New York Times,"

this did not affect Adolf Ochs’ holding of shares in "The New York Times."

He remained the second-largest shareholder of "The New York Times!"

"Two tigers cannot share the same mountain. Even though the Warburg family and the Ochs family had decent relations prior to this and are both Jewish people, now that Paul Warburg has made his move, he certainly won’t allow Adolf Ochs to become his rival at ’The New York Times’!"

Donnie expressed his opinion.

Indeed, this was exactly the case.

After Paul Warburg secured his position as president of "The New York Times" through a board meeting, the first demand he made of Adolf Ochs was for him to repay, in the shortest possible time, the funds previously borrowed from the Warburg family!

Of course, Adolf Ochs was unable to produce such funds in a short time. If he had the cash available, he wouldn’t have been forced into this predicament by Donnie!

Ultimately, despite his reluctance, Adolf Ochs had no choice but to transfer his shares in "The New York Times" to the Kuhn, Loeb & Co. consortium and completely withdraw from "The New York Times!"

This news caused a significant stir in society.

There had been prior reports in newspapers about financial difficulties at Kuhn, Loeb & Co. consortium following World War I, creating doubt and suspicion about the consortium among many people.

Now, however, Kuhn, Loeb & Co. consortium had become the largest shareholder of "The New York Times," and Paul Warburg had directly taken the helm as president of "The New York Times."

This development made people question:

Does Kuhn, Loeb & Co. consortium really have financial troubles?

The stock market reaction was swift. Following the disclosure of this news, the stock prices of companies under Kuhn, Loeb & Co. consortium all saw varying degrees of increases.

Numerous securities firms believed that now that Kuhn, Loeb & Co. consortium had seized control of "The New York Times," they would undoubtedly leverage its influence to publish positive reports about Kuhn, Loeb & Co. consortium.

This would, of course, drive up the stock prices of companies under Kuhn, Loeb & Co. consortium!

As expected, things unfolded precisely as people had anticipated. After Paul Warburg became the president of "The New York Times," he immediately abandoned the editorial guidelines set by Adolf Ochs for "The New York Times."

Under Adolf Ochs’ administration, "The New York Times" had leaned toward the Democratic Party but never fully aligned with it. Adolf Ochs had maintained an appearance of impartiality,

and when it came to party affiliations, the newspaper operated with subtle hints rather than overt declarations, much less outwardly showing support for corporate interests.

Now, things had changed. "The New York Times" had become the mouthpiece of the Democratic Party and the Kuhn, Loeb & Co. consortium.

For several consecutive days, "The New York Times" prominently featured stories endorsing the Democratic Party and publishing positive coverage of Kuhn, Loeb & Co. consortium.

"Had I known it would be this simple, we would have taken ’The New York Times’ much earlier!"

Felix Warburg visited New York today and met with Paul Warburg.

Paul Warburg waved dismissively and said, "If Donnie hadn’t been so relentless in pressuring Adolf Ochs, I wouldn’t have wanted to act!"

Perplexed, Felix Warburg asked, "Why not?"

The current situation seemed highly advantageous to Felix Warburg.

Paul Warburg sighed and explained, "Adolf Ochs had been president of ’The New York Times’ for such a long time, and he built many connections. Previously, everyone knew about our good relationship with the Ochs family, but now we’ve stabbed Adolf Ochs in the back. This would inevitably make some people view us in a negative light."

Adolf Ochs’ departure from "The New York Times" inevitably diminished his influence.

However, Adolf Ochs was far from destitute; his assets still totaled at least several million. Nevertheless, most of these were fixed assets, not liquid cash. In the battle for control of "The New York Times,"

Adolf Ochs’ assets proved ineffective, and there was no viable way to liquidate the assets at full value.

Thus, Adolf Ochs was first pressured by Donnie and then betrayed by the Warburg family!