Hedge fund billionaire and soon-to-be media mogul Paul Marshall may be about to purchase Britain’s Spectator magazine in a deal worth more than $131 million that could be announced as soon as Tuesday, according to a Wall Street Journal report, which added that the Telegraph newspaper is also part of the deal, but announcements for this won’t come until late September or early October.
Marshall beat potential buyers including Rupert Murdoch, the chairman emeritus of News Corp, which owns The Wall Street Journal.
This comes after the UK government blocked RedBird IMI, an investment group with a prime financial backer being an Abu Dhabi royal family member, from purchasing The Spectator as well as the Telegraph for about £600 million, due to press freedom concerns.
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Who is Paul Marshall?
Paul Marshall chairs the London-based Marshall Wace, one of the largest hedge funds with assets under management amounting to $68 billion.
He co-founded the fund with Ian Wace in 1997. His current net worth is $1.1 billion, according to The Sunday Times Rich List.
Marshall launched UnHerd, a website claiming it is for “people who dare to think for themselves.”
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Later on, he invested in GB News, a right-leaning alternative television channel to the BBC, and continues to remain a major backer of it. UK Regulators found GB News violated UK broadcasting rules 12 times so far.
What is Spectator Magazine?
The Spectator is a right-of-center British weekly news magazine which focuses on politics, culture, and current affairs, with former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson being one of its previous editors.
The 150 year old publication had a relatively small circulation of around 93,000 in 2022, but it caters to an upscale audience, being popular with the UK’s Conservatives.
It generated a profit of around £1.8 million in 2022, down from £2.2 million from the previous year.
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