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anity Fair' Reveals Why Broad Can't Work With Geffen on Tribune Deal

By E&P Staff

Published: November 09, 2006 12:35 PM ET

NEW YORK A lengthy profile of Eli Broad in the upcoming December issue of Vanity Fair explains why fellow Los Angeles mogul David Geffen has not joined in the serious bid this week by Broad and Ron Burkle for the Tribune Co. and its Los Angeles Times. Geffen does remain interested in the Times, however.

The Vanity Fair article by Bob Colacello is not yet available to readers in print of online. It calls Broad the third richest man in Los Angeles -- behind Sumner Redstone and Kirk Kerkorian--with Geffen coming in at #4. Burkle is described as his "good friend" and Geffen as his "not-so-good friend."

The story includes the following quotes:

-- Broad on a "dustup" with Geffen in 2000 over efforts to bring the Democratic convention to L.A. : “I’ll tell you what happened, I got all the press, that’s what happened. And why did I get all the press? I was there.”

-- David Geffen on the same controversy: “Eli Broad seems to need attention. I prefer to avoid it.”

-- A source close to both billionaires: "“There’s no way to put them together. What makes David mad about Eli is that Eli talks to the press about him.”

-- Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan: “These two guys both have to be boss. Has Eli become more collaborative over the years? I guess. But I know he still believes you need what he calls the owner, the boss, who can make the quick decisions that have to be made without going to a committee or board.”

The profile -- which focuses on Broad's art, museum and business dealings and rivalries, not the L.A. Times deal -- reveals that he "sees returning the Los Angeles Times to local ownership as another piece of his overall vision to elevate Los Angeles to its rightful place among the world's great cities....Broad has said that he doesn’t want to be publisher, and would prefer to buy the paper in partnership with other local philanthropists through their foundations, so that it could possibly be run as a nonprofit trust. Broad has even called Geffen to propose that they buy the Times together, but Geffen told him that he had no interest in being partners."

E&P Staff

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