Reclusive twin brothers bidding to control Conrad Black's press empire

[Judi Lynn]

storylast updated: 1/19/2004

Reclusive twin brothers bidding to control Conrad Black's press empire


January 19, 2004 — The twin tycoons who have struck a deal to take over Conrad Black's press empire defy the tradition of the flamboyant media baron. They are rarely photographed, almost never interviewed and live in luxurious isolation on their own island.

Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, 69, this weekend announced their plan to buy a controlling interest in Hollinger Inc., the Toronto-based parent company of newspaper publisher Hollinger International Inc. which owns London's Daily Telegraph, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Jerusalem Post.

Hollinger said Saturday it had fired Black as chairman and was suing him for more than $200 million it alleges was improperly diverted to him, an associate and entities he controls.

If the Barclays' $466 million deal clears regulatory approval, the brothers will expand media holdings that already include the Scotsman, an Edinburgh, Scotland-based daily, and the Business, a struggling weekly.
(snip/...)

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/011904_ap_ns_twintycoons.html

[Supormom]

1. I heard the brothers described as "conservative leaning"

by Reuters. Conservative by European or American standards. Does anybody know?

[MissMarple]

2. They contribute to the Conservative Party, but are detached from their

newspaper interests. But if only because of their nationality and upbringing, I'm guessing they are definitely middle of the road British Conservatives. And, they do seem like interesting folks.

[Judi Lynn]

3. It would be wonderful to see the Hollinger papers

turn away from the extreme right twist. They'd be doing everyone a favor to rescue them if they are less rabid than Conrad Black.

[KoKo]

4. The "Scotsman" has been very good in reporting on Bush and Iraq, I

hope these "brothers" don't change the tone of that newspaper.

[KoKo]

5. Unfortunately the reclusive Barclay brothers are not "charity minded" and

this article which was linked from the original doesn't make them sound much better than Black or Murdoch.
----------------
Barclay brothers scrap Littlewoods charity giving

Good causes join ethical code as victim of cost cutting

Simon Bowers
Wednesday February 5, 2003
The Guardian

The Barclay brothers, billionaire owners of the Scotsman newspaper and Ritz hotel, have scrapped all corporate charitable donations at Littlewoods, the clothes retailing empire they bought last October for £750m. Under its previous owner, the founding Moores family, Littlewoods had been proud of its reputation for philanthropy, donating about 1 per cent of profits to a different charity each year.

Last year the company gave about £500,000 to good causes and this year a similar pledge to Comic Relief is expected to be honoured. After that, all corporate donations will cease.The decision will come as an embarrassment for Tony Blair, who three years ago approved knighthoods for Barclay twins Sir David and Sir Frederick for their services to charity.Halting charitable donations is one of several measures imposed on Littlewoods by its new owners to squeeze more profits from the mail order business and 186 stores.

Other savings revealed last week include more than 200 job losses at the group's Liverpool headquarters and scrapping membership of the ethical trading initiative, a government, union and charity-backed code designed to ban suppliers from using child or forced labour.

Littlewoods denied this would heap pressure on suppliers to exploit vulnerable textile workers overseas, but critics noted that the company had already sent a letter to suppliers demanding a 2 per cent cut in wholesale prices, a move which could add £15m to Barclay profits.

More...........http://society.guardian.co.uk/charityfinance/story/0,8150,889170,00.html