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.[1]

Affiliations

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Sheryl Gay Stolberg, No Opportunity Unexplored at 92, New York Times, 15 August 2010