AMI and National Enquirer have other problems besides Jeff Bezos' wrath
Emails from American Media Inc. officials apparently threatening Amazon founder Jeff Bezos with extortion and blackmail have put AMI and its chief executive, David Pecker, in potential hot water with federal prosecutors as well as the AMI board. Threatening the richest man in the world — in writing — may not have been the smartest move, but AMI was already in dire straits, Bloomberg reported Tuesday: Years of "steep financial losses" have left "the once-loyal keeper of Donald Trump's secrets with more than $1 billion in debt and a negative net worth."
Over the past few years, a "borrowing binge" by AMI has "swelled its debt load to more than $1.3 billion," Bloomberg said. Investment firm Chatham Asset Management owns an 80 percent stake in AMI, thanks to a financial lifeline thrown to Pecker in 2014, and despite efforts to butter up Saudi Arabia's leaders, "there is no direct investment in the company's debt or equity by the Saudis," AMI Chief Financial Officer Chris Polimeni said, adding that AMI's financial picture is improving.
In some ways, the National Enquirer simply ran into the same market forces that have buffeted all print media, Joe Pompeo says at Vanity Fair. "Circulation was on the decline — it is now reportedly south of 300,000, down from a peak of around 6 million a week in the late 1970s — and AMI was running into financing troubles that it continues to grapple with today." But the whole Bezos affair "has stunned battle-hardened tabloid veterans who thought they'd seen it all," Pompeo adds, making them wonder why AMI was so desperate to get Bezos to publicly state hacking his texts wasn't tied to politics.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"The history of tabloid journalism is rife with all sorts of behind-the-scenes deals," George Rush, former Daily News gossip columnist, told Pompeo. "But to put that offer so bluntly and brazenly, to a man who has the intelligence and power to impale you on your own sword, was stupid."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Feds cap credit card late fees at $8
speed read The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule to save households an estimated $10 billion a year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Immigration helped the US economy outpace peers
speed read The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.2% last quarter
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
4-day workweek gets boost from UK study
Speed Read Following a six-month trial, the majority of participating British companies are still using the truncated schedule
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US sues to block Kroger-Albertsons merger
Speed Read The Federal Trade Commission sued to block the $24.6 billion merger between the grocery giants
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Nvidia sees historic stock rise on AI chips success
Speed Read U.S. chipmaker Nvidia achieved the biggest one-day increase in value of any company in history
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New York may seize Trump's assets for $450M penalty
Speed Read The former president likely owes $600 million from two civil judgments in New York
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Capital One to buy Discover for $35B
Speed Read The deal, if cleared by regulators, would create the biggest credit card lender in the country
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Sports Illustrated publisher fires CEO after allegedly getting caught using AI-generated articles
Speed Read The CEO is one of several executives to be fired in the wake of the scandal
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published