Sidney Harman

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Sidney Harman (born 4 August 1918) is a US tycoon and husband of Jane Hamran. He is the Chairman Emeritus of Harman International Industries and as of of August 2010, the owner of Newsweek. Harman's fortune is estimated at $500 million by Forbes, which he made in the 1950s with his partner Bernard Kardon with whom he invented the stereo receiver. Their company Harman/Kardon is today part of Harman International. He also served as the United States Under Secretary of Commerce between 1977-78.[1]

Newsweek purchase

Harman's purchased the money-losing pulication from the Washington Post Company for a reported price of price of $1 plus about $50 million in liabilities. In the New York Times Sheryl Gay Stolberg writes:

What would possess a 92-year-old man with virtually no experience in publishing to embark on a business venture that lost nearly $30 million last year? And what, precisely, will Mr. Harman do with Newsweek once he gets it? [...] Some wonder aloud if Newsweek will be [Jane] Harman’s exit strategy from Congress. Still others view the deal as a favor to Donald E. Graham, chairman of The Washington Post Company, Newsweek’s current owner — a kind of gentleman’s agreement between two Washington power families.[2]

Affiliations

References

  1. Sheryl Gay Stolberg, No Opportunity Unexplored at 92, New York Times, 15 August 2010
  2. Sheryl Gay Stolberg, No Opportunity Unexplored at 92, New York Times, 15 August 2010