New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is weighing up whether to make a bid for The Financial Times Group, which includes the namesake paper and a half interest in The Economist magazine, the New York Times reported, citing three people close to the mayor.

Pearson Plc, the publisher of FT, is about to lose two of its top executives, raising speculation the paper could be up for sale.

Analysts value The Financial Times Group at about $1.2 billion, well within the reach of Bloomberg LP, which in 2011 had revenue of $7.6 billion, the paper said. ()

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

One media banker with knowledge of the company expects the paper to be sold around early next year, the New York Times said.

Factions within Bloomberg LP have argued that it would be smarter to buy a digital property, pointing to the website LinkedIn as an example.

Daniel Doctoroff, a confidant of Bloomberg and the chief executive of the company, is said to be particularly skeptical about the value of buying a newspaper, the paper said.

A spokesman for the mayor declined to comment to the New York Times on his conversations about the Financial Times paper.

A spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg and Pearson Group could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular U.S. business hours.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

This year, we have stood together in strength and sorrow. Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism. 

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount