My My, What Big Eyes You Have, Grandpa: Rumor Bloomberg Could Acquire Dow Jones or The Washington Post

"Bloomberg, the billionaire businessman and media mogul, is interested in acquiring either Wall Street Journal parent company Dow Jones or The Washington Post, a source familiar with his thinking told Axios." - MSN, December 23, 2022

Although the media sector remains glam it is increasingly troubled in everything from financial performance to reach to trust. 

This breakdown has gone this far: There is speculation that influence will come from what's posted on social/professional networks not newsfeeds. 

In a sense the "official" reporting follows what has already been made public in real time on the social/professional networks (those include the anonymous ones). I had found out about the death of Paul Weiss partner David Brown on Fishbowl Big Law. A more recent example of social/professional reach has been Elon Musk's using Twitter for decision-making about stepping down.

One solution for media survival and growth has been mergers and acquisitions (M&A). A surge of proposed M&As would be good news for jobs on Wall Street and in law firms. If they are completed those can ensure a solid kind of employment security.

Overall, though, things don't look so hot in those kinds of transactions for 2023. So, more layoffs are expected. 

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"Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity globally fell well short of the high-water mark set last year as debt financing markets collapsed and stock market volatility decimated valuations, with dealmakers predicting a slow path to recovery in 2023." - Reuters Legal, December 21, 2022

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Once the holidays wrap there could be bloodbaths. So wildly could the ax swing that there is even a movement to label those terminations Reductions-in-Force versus cuts made on the basis of performance. Legal consultant at Fairfax Associates Kristin Stark discusses that in The Recorder, as applied to managing manpower in large law firms. 

But even a Howdy Partner chase in media, such as after Dow Jones or WaPo, might not necessarily trigger the kind of assignments Big Law and Wall Street need for 2023.

A potential blocker – the deal dies – is the antitrust aggressiveness of the Federal Trade Commission. Under chair Lina Kahn it is using the lawsuit tool to derail proposed major M&A activity. A recent example is Microsoft’s attempt to combine with video game maker Activision Blizzard. Soon after that lawsuit there has been another antitrust litigation challenge from 10 gamers.

There is a growing awareness that growth may be a misguided goal for capitalism. Yes, it is being attacked as a wolf positioning itself as the universal force for good.

Meanwhile, even if Bloomberg wins he could lose. In the near future media as we have known it could collapse as a public service, source of influence, and a business. An accelerant, of course, could be AI ChatGPT. A more promising strategy for Bloomberg could be investing and getting on the boards of social and professional networks. In addition, he should be advertising on them.

Disclosure: In the morning I first turn on the professional anonymous networks, not The Wall Street Journal.

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