LA Times’ billionaire owner repeatedly fell behind on payments to star correspondent, vendors: report
The Los Angeles Times repeatedly fell months behind on payments to contractors and vendors — even stiffing one of its own marquee hires — as billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong pressed ahead with plans to take the 144-year-old newspaper public, according to a report.
Among those caught in the payment delays was investigative journalist Catherine Herridge, who struggled for months to collect money owed under her lucrative deal with the paper before finally getting paid after what sources described as a prolonged battle, the Status newsletter reported.
A spokesperson for the newspaper appeared to confirm at least some of the allegations, telling Status that the company is current on “the majority” of its payment obligations and that payments are “overwhelmingly being made in accordance with contractual terms for all active accounts.”
“The assertions being made are not accurate,” the newspaper’s rep told Status.
“The Times is current on the majority of its payment obligations, and payments are overwhelmingly being made in accordance with contractual terms for all active accounts.”
The statement came after Status reported that the newspaper had repeatedly failed to pay contractors and vendors on time, with some waiting months to receive payment and only getting paid after escalating the matter to senior executives or threatening further action.
Herridge, the former CBS News and Fox News investigative reporter, joined the Times with considerable fanfare in November of last year after signing what Status described as a lucrative deal to host a weekly investigative series.
But the newsletter reported that the relationship quickly deteriorated behind the scenes as the newspaper fell months behind on payments owed to the veteran investigative reporter.
The Times ultimately caught up after what sources described to Status as a lengthy battle to collect the money.
The payment dispute came as Herridge was already facing mounting financial pressure from an unrelated legal fight over her refusal to identify a confidential source.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court rejected Herridge’s emergency bid to block $800-a-day contempt fines stemming from her refusal to reveal the source behind a Fox News report about a Virginia educational institution with alleged ties to the Chinese military.
The payment problems at the LA Times have frustrated some executives inside the company, according to the report.
Status said Decatur Holcombe, the paper’s senior vice president of finance, recently resigned after privately expressing concerns about the company’s direction.
Holcombe, however, denied that account, telling Status through a Times spokesperson that “any assertion that I resigned from the company over concerns about the state of the business is completely false.”
The report also painted Soon-Shiong, the biotech billionaire who bought the Times in 2018, as intensely cost-conscious despite his vast fortune.
According to Status, Soon-Shiong once flew former CBS News president David Rhodes to Los Angeles on a coach-class ticket while recruiting him for a senior role at the paper.
Instead of booking Rhodes a hotel room, the billionaire allegedly had him stay in his guest house and lent him one of his Infiniti SUVs rather than arranging a rental car.
“That might be why I didn’t take the job,” Rhodes told Status, saying the experience made him question Soon-Shiong’s willingness to invest in the newspaper.
The reported payment delays come as Soon-Shiong is seeking to raise as much as $500 million through an initial public offering of the 144-year-old newspaper, according to Status.
The Post has sought comment from Herridge, Rhodes, Holcombe, Soon-Shiong and the LA Times.
