New York Times Co. sold the Boston Globe to American billionaire and owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team and Liverpool soccer club John Henry. The agreement on the purchase of the newspaper, which had been a private company for 100 years (until 1973), has been signed last weekend. Henry agreed to pay $70 million for the Boston Globe, its affiliated websites (BostonGlobe.com and Boston.com), Massachusetts daily newspaper Worcester Telegram & Gazette as well as www.telegram.com, and marketing company GlobeDirect. Although The New York Times had put this “media set” for sale several times, there were no potential buyers. However, the new owner considers his acquisition as profitable investment, especially taking into account the newspaper weight and peculiar style of the Boston journalism that made the Globe one of most respected papers in the United States. Eileen Murphy, The New York Times spokeswoman, confirmed that the newspaper with the circulation of 233,000 including electronic subscriptions has been sold. According to Forbes, 63-year-old John Henry occupies the 974th position on the global billionaires' list. The fortune of the businessman and investor is estimated at $1.5 billion.
