家族傳人詳解《華盛頓郵報》出售始末
????華盛頓郵報公司CEO唐?格雷厄姆在2012年《財富》科技頭腦風暴大會上發言。
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????華盛頓郵報公司（Washington Post Co.）董事長兼CEO唐納德?E?格雷厄姆稱，對于公司以2.5億美元現金的價格將旗下的旗艦報紙和其他出版業務出售給亞馬遜（Amazon）CEO杰夫?貝佐斯，他“感覺很好”。 ????周二上午接受《財富》雜志（Fortune）采訪時，格雷厄姆表示：“我們公司將《華盛頓郵報》（Washington Post）出售，我當然感到非常惋惜。但與公司其他人不同，我已經為這筆交易考慮了幾個月時間，而且已經做好了準備。我相信，杰夫是最適合《華盛頓郵報》的老板。” ????周二，華盛頓郵報公司的股票應聲上漲至52周以來的最高點。這家公司股票在中午上漲至約23美元，漲幅達到4%，使公司市值達到了44億美元——它表明，投資者更加看好放棄出版業務之后的公司。格雷厄姆說：“我不知道市場會有怎樣的反應。公司CFO哈爾?瓊斯和我都認為，股票可能上漲，也可能下跌。我們對任何一種結果都不會感到吃驚。” ????按照交易條件，華盛頓郵報公司將更換名稱。【這家公司保留了Slate雜志、TheRoot.com和《外交政策》雜志（Foreign Policy），以及教育業務卡普蘭（Kaplan），和有線與廣播資產。】格雷厄姆稱公司的新名稱尚未確定。他說：“我們將自行決定。我們會接受外界的建議，但我們不會聘請顧問。” ????他對教育業務的增長依然保持樂觀：“高質量的教育肯定會有巨大的需求。全世界的人們都渴望接受教育。” ????1933年，格雷厄姆的祖父在一次破產出售中買下了《華盛頓郵報》。格雷厄姆自1979年1月至2000年9月期間一直擔任報紙發行人，2000年9月至2008年2月期間，擔任報社總裁。他表示，作為報紙主辦人的這段經歷讓他學到了許多寶貴的經驗，即使在眼下這筆交易完成之后，這些寶貴經驗還會一直伴隨著他。 ????他說：“我們學到的其中一課是“以人為本”。（前任總裁）凱伊?格雷厄姆所做的第一件事就是，聘用本?布萊德利擔任報社編輯，這也是她做出過的最英明的商業決策之一；另外一個英明決定是把沃倫?巴菲特請進公司董事會。” ????格雷厄姆程，這種以人為本的觀點使得把出版業務出售給貝佐斯變得“較為容易接受”。“杰夫是非常值得尊敬的、深思熟慮的人。他飽讀詩書，曾寫過許多與商業有關的文章。雖然他的個人品質并不是此次交易的決定因素，但卻讓交易更加簡單。” ????格雷厄姆稱，他和貝佐斯彼此認識已有15年時間。他說，在此期間，他經常向貝佐斯征詢有關新聞與科技的建議與觀點。 ????格雷厄姆和投資公司Allen & Co.的銀行家南希?佩雷茲曼在考慮出售《華盛頓郵報》時列出了潛在買家的清單。“我們的清單上都有杰夫，不過，我說：‘我很懷疑他是否會有興趣，因為眾所周知，他一直專注于亞馬遜。’” ????格雷厄姆并不是科技領域的門外漢（他是Facebook董事會成員）。他表示，對于貝佐斯將給《華盛頓郵報》注入的創新與想法，他感到非常樂觀。他指著貝佐斯送給報社全體員工的備忘錄（已在《華盛頓郵報》網站上發布），里面寫道：“我們需要創新，這意味著我們需要進行實驗。” ????格雷厄姆說：“未來，這里會成一個令人興奮的地方。”（財富中文網）
????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓? |
????Donald E. Graham, the chairman and CEO of the Washington Post Co. (WPO) says he is "feeling good" about the company's sale of its flagship newspaper and other publishing businesses to Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos for $250 million in cash. ????"I'm obviously very sad about our company selling the Washington Post, but unlike everybody else in this building I've had months to think it over and prepare for it," Graham told Fortune in an interview Tuesday morning. "I think Jeff's the best possible owner for the Post." ????The news drove Washington Post stock Tuesday to a 52-week high. At midday, shares in the company were up about $23, or 4%, giving the company a market capitalization of $4.4 billion -- an indication that investors are more bullish on the company without its publishing unit. "I didn't know what the market reaction would be," Graham says. "Hal Jones, our CFO, and I agreed that the stock might go up, and it might go down. Nothing would have surprised us." ????Under the terms of the deal, the Washington Post Company will change its name. (The company retains Slate magazine, TheRoot.com and Foreign Policy as well as Kaplan, an education subsidiary, and cable and broadcasting properties.) Graham says a new name hasn't yet been determined. "We will decide it among ourselves," he says. "We're open to suggestions, but we will not hire a consultant." ????He remains particularly optimistic about the growth of the education business. "There's going to be massive demand for quality education. People around the world are hungry for education." ????Graham, whose grandfather purchased the Washington Post at a bankruptcy sale in 1933, was publisher of the Post from January 1979 until September 2000 and chairman of the newspaper from September 2000 to February 2008. He says he learned valuable lessons from his time as a newspaperman that will stay with him long after the sale to Bezos is completed. ????"One of the business lessons we all learn is that it's all about the people. The first thing [previous chairman] Kay Graham did was hire Ben Bradlee as editor, and it may have been the best decision she made in business, along with bringing Warren Buffett on the board" of directors, he says. ????Such a people-centric view made it "easy" to sell the publishing business to Bezos, Graham says. "Jeff is a very, very decent, thoughtful man. He is very well read, and he's written a lot about business. His personal qualities didn't decide it, but they made the decision easy." ????Graham says he and Bezos have probably known each other for about 15 years, during which time Graham says he would reach out to Bezos for advice and perspectives on news and technology. ????When Graham and Allen & Co. banker Nancy Peretsman began considering the sale of the Post, they drew up a list of potential buyers. "We both had Jeff on our lists but I said, 'I doubt very much that he'd be interested because he is so famously singleminded about Amazon.' " ????Graham, no slouch in the tech department (he is on the board of directors of Facebook (FB)), says he is optimistic about the innovation and thinking Bezos will bring to Washington Post. He points to Bezos' memo to the staff of the Post (published on the Washington Post's website), which says: "We will need to invent, which means we will need to experiment." ????"It's going to be a very exciting place," Graham says. ???? |
