Harbinger Raises New York Times Stake to 15.6%

An investment firm seeking board seats at New York Times disclosed Thursday that it has increased its stake in the company again, to 15.6%. 

Meanwhile, the Times

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[NYT  Loading...      ()   ] also filed a preliminary proxy statement Thursday that didn't include the four candidates being proposed by Harbinger Capital. 

Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said the Harbinger candidates were still under consideration, but that the company believes its current slate is "very strong." The company will file its final proxy statement later for its annual shareholder meeting, which is scheduled to be held April 22. 

Harbinger disclosed in late January that it had accumulated about 5% of New York Times' Class A shares and was working in conjunction with a New York University marketing professor named Scott Galloway to propose four candidates for the Times board. 

Harbinger and Galloway criticized the Times for not moving more quickly to build up its digital businesses and said the board needed a fresh perspective. 

Harbinger later disclosed on Feb. 11 that it had increased its stake to about 11%, and on Thursday said it owned 15.6%. 

Galloway and Harbinger have said they weren't going to press for changes in the Times' two-class share structure, which allows the Sulzberger family to maintain control by electing 70% of the board. The other 30% are elected by public shareholders.