Who Owns the Media: Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times (Nant Capital) 🐔🐔🐔🐔

Capitulation Rank: Obeying
Category: Newspaper & Publishing 
Market Cap: Privately held

In 2018, billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong purchased The Los Angeles Times via his private-equity firm Nant Capital. The initial reaction of many in the industry was that this nearly half-a-billion-dollar investment would place the daily on a more stable financial foundation. But in 2024, the company’s owner began to meddle in the Times’ editorial decisions: In October, he blocked the newspaper from moving forward with its plan to endorse Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Soon-Shiong then spiked publication of a series of articles tentatively titled “The Case Against Trump.” His interference unleashed an exodus of top newsroom staff, who resigned in protest.

He has since taken an even more aggressive role in determining the editorial direction of the paper, including softening headlines that appear to be critical of the Trump White House and cabinet members. In part due to resulting mass cancellations of reader subscriptions, the paper continues to hemorrhage money, losing $50 million in 2024. He hired pro-MAGA commentator Scott Jennings to join the editorial board as part of his effort to make it more Trump friendly. In January 2025, the Times also rewrote an opinion piece to present a more favorable view of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Tarnishing his reputation among reporters even further, Soon-Shiong attended a May meeting between President Trump and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known to have orchestrated the murder of journalist and regime-critic Jamal Khashoggi.

DEI Doublespeak:

In a 2020 editorial by Soon-Shiong, he examined the Times’ failures on covering race and pledged “to increase diversity” at the paper.  Today, it’s unclear whether he is sticking to this promise or is willing to abandon DEI commitments to appease the Trump White House. The Los Angeles Times website claims the company has an ongoing commitment to “cultivating a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the communities we serve.” Diversity and fairness make up two of the company’s five core values, “support[ing] the shared goal of respecting the perspectives and contributions of all people,” the website states. Despite this pledge, mass layoffs at the Times in 2024 “disproportionately affected” journalists of color, according to the newspaper’s union.

What It Owns:

Nant Capital is a private-equity firm that invests in health care, energy and manufacturing companies in California and across the United States. Its investment in The Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union Tribune marks an unusual foray into media ownership, though a subsidiary, NantWorks, has a portfolio partially focused on “connectivity and communications.” This includes ownership of NantMobile (mobile services), NantTronics (electronic hardware) and NantWorks (media production).