Michael 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 tells Sara Fischer and Mike Allen at Axios.
Bloomberg, 80, wants to be a "friendly buyer" from one of two fellow billionaire moguls — Rupert Murdoch, 91, who controls Dow Jones, or Jeff Bezos, 58, who owns The Washington Post.
Why it matters: This is a media power story worthy of "Succession." Bloomberg wants to expand his media empire and sees Dow Jones as his ideal fit.
But Bloomberg would buy The Post — which is once again losing money, and saddled with rotten staff morale ahead of promised layoffs — if Bezos were interested in selling.
What he's thinking: Bloomberg — who is close to Murdoch, owner of Dow Jones' parent, News Corp. — believes efforts to merge News Corp. and its sister company Fox Corp. will fail, creating a possible opening. Bloomberg is friendly with, but not close to, Bezos.
The combination of The Wall Street Journal + Bloomberg would instantly create a business-news behemoth. Or imagine the national clout of The Post, backed by the massive newsroom and business coverage dominance of Bloomberg.
Money is no object: Forbes says Bloomberg is worth $77 billion.
A Post spokesperson told Axios: "The Post is not for sale." News Corp. didn't comment.
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