Michael Wolff writes in The Guardian about the Financial Times’s prospects now that Pearson CEO Marjorie Scardino, a booster of the paper, is on the way out.
He reports that Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters have gone “hat in hand” to Pearson expressing their interest in buying the FT, and he says Rupert Murdoch “has obsessed” over what might happen to The Journal if Bloomberg gets hold of the FT or NYT.
But then he tosses this off (emphasis mine):
Why do rich men love the FT? Perhaps because its salmon color so distinctly identifies men of common interests and aspirations; or because its Britishness suggests a further class consciousness and, too, because among all business publications, it really is the liveliest read. At any rate, they like it so much that even though it is a newspaper - as doomed as any other - there is an intense competition among the super rich to own it. (What’s more, the FT Group comes with a 50% interest in the Economist, the next most favorite publication of would-be mandarins and the wealthy.)
Sorry, but no. The FT’s circulation has been increasing, not falling. More than half of the FT’s 600,000 subscriptions are now digital and they charge a lot of money for each of them. The FT Group as a whole now brings in as much money from its digital operations as it does from print. It also has a super-rich audience, the kind that brings big ad dollars to 0.1 percent porn like “How to Spend It.”
If any newspaper is going to make it, it’s the FT.
— Gawker’s Hamilton Nolan reports on the CEO featured in that “Queen of Versailles” documentary. David Siegel recently sent out this (partially plagiarized) email to his employees all but telling them to vote for Mitt Romney:
As most of you know our company, Westgate Resorts, has continued to succeed in spite of a very dismal economy. There is no question that the economy has changed for the worse and we have not seen any improvement over the past four years. In spite of all of the challenges we have faced, the good news is this: The economy doesn’t currently pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is another 4 years of the same Presidential administration. Of course, as your employer, I can’t tell you whom to vote for, and I certainly wouldn’t interfere with your right to vote for whomever you choose. In fact, I encourage you to vote for whomever you think will serve your interests the best…
Yes, business ownership has its benefits, but the price I’ve paid is steep and not without wounds. Unfortunately, the costs of running a business have gotten out of control, and let me tell you why: We are being taxed to death and the government thinks we don’t pay enough. We pay state taxes, federal taxes, property taxes, sales and use taxes, payroll taxes, workers compensation taxes and unemployment taxes. I even have to hire an entire department to manage all these taxes. The question I have is this: Who is really stimulating the economy? Is it the Government that wants to take money from those who have earned it and give it to those who have not, or is it people like me who built a company out of his garage and directly employs over 7000 people and hosts over 3 million people per year with a great vacation?
Obviously, our present government believes that taking my money is the right economic stimulus for this country. The fact is, if I deducted 50% of your paycheck you’d quit and you wouldn’t work here. I mean, why should you? Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, that’s what happens to me.
The poor guy is currently building a $100 million, 90,000 square foot house after a pause for lack of liquidity. And there’s no way Siegel is paying 50 percent taxes, by the way.
If you haven’t yet, make sure to read Chrystia Freeland’s excellent New Yorker article on why billionaires feel victimized by Obama.

"And there’s no way Siegel is paying 50 percent taxes, by the way."
If he is lying, then that link you provided doesn't prove it. But here is a business owner giving an estimate of the taxes he pays, totaling 45%, and he doesn't include half of the tax-items mentioned by Siegel. Is he a liar too? (Btw, is every item on CJR an indirect or outright defense of some govt actor, govt power-expansion, or govt-subsidized collective? If CJR had existed 240 years ago, would it have defended The Crown to the last shilling?)
#1 Posted by Dan A., CJR on Wed 10 Oct 2012 at 10:48 AM
I interviewed Siegel in 1999 as part of a 4-month look at Central Florida Investments' history. It was the most remarkable interview of my career. He told his remarkable life story while simultaneously shouting into his cell phone trying to evict a family from one of his rental houses.
Blogged the latest email missive and put links to the interview and story:
http://blogs.citypaper.com/index.php/2012/10/vote-obama-out-or-youre-fired/
#2 Posted by Edward Ericson Jr., CJR on Wed 10 Oct 2012 at 10:54 AM
Dear Edward Ericson, Jr.,
Siegel did not threaten to fire 8,000 employees, yet you claimed he did: an obvious falsehood and a fine example of Good Journalism. Bravo. Keep it up. You might just have a bright future in politics (wink wink).
Regards,
George W. Obama
#3 Posted by Dan A., CJR on Wed 10 Oct 2012 at 12:00 PM
You're both wrong, Dan being more so.
Read the link.
http://gawker.com/5950189/the-ceo-who-built-himself-americas-largest-house-just-threatened-to-fire-his-employees-if-obamas-elected
Shortly after we posted this letter, we found out, thanks to multiple readers, that it bore suspicious resemblances to a popular chain letter that was circulated just before the 2008 elections. Well, we just got off the phone with David Siegel, who told us the letter below is real, and that it was sent out to all of his employees yesterday... He also said that its threats of possible layoffs are real, based on his assessment of the political and economic climate.
So yeah, the billionaire plagiarist didn't write that - but he meant it. From the letter:
So where am I going with all this? It's quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current President plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company.
So it's not a condition of Obama's re-election, it's a condition of his re-election and taxes, oh dear, taxes on his measly hundreds of millions.
My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, so will your opportunities. If that happens, you can find me in the Caribbean sitting on the beach, under a palm tree, retired, and with no employees to worry about.
What a prick. "Vote how you like, but if the wrong guy stays in your kids will starve while I'm in Bermuda, HA ha!"
#4 Posted by Thimbles, CJR on Wed 10 Oct 2012 at 05:42 PM