 | |
.JPG) Lee headquarters | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Nasdaq: LEE Russell Microcap Index component | |
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 1890 |
| Founder | Alfred Wilson Lee |
| Headquarters | Davenport, Iowa |
Key people |
|
| Products | Newspapers and television station |
| Revenue |  US$780.9 million (2022) |
| US$24.9 million (2022) | |
| US$97,000 (2022) | |
| Total assets | US$744 million (2022) |
Number of employees | 4,365 (2022) |
| Website | lee |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
Lee Enterprises, Inc. is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 77 daily newspapers in 26 states,[2] and more than 350 weekly, classified, and specialty publications.[3] Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by Alfred Wilson Lee[2] and is based in Davenport, Iowa.[4]
The company also provides online services, including websites supporting its daily newspapers and other publications. Lee had more than 25[2] million unique web and mobile visitors monthly, with 209.1 million pages viewed. Lee became majority partner of TownNews.com in 1996;[4] Town News creates software for newspaper publication purposes. The company offers commercial printing services to its customers.[4]
Lee Enterprises is currently the fourth largest newspaper group in the United States of America. The company acquired Howard Publications (16 daily newspapers) for $694 million in 2002[5] and Pulitzer, Inc. (14 daily, over 100 non-daily), for $1.5 billion in 2005.[6]
From January 2012 to April 2017, the company's executive chairman, Mary Junck, was chairman of the Associated Press.[7] In December 2018, Lee Enterprises announced that Mary Junck would transition from Executive Chairman to Chairman of the company.[8]
In January 2020, Lee Enterprises announced an agreement with Berkshire Hathaway to acquire BH Media Group's publications and The Buffalo News for $140 million in cash.[9][10]
In November 2021, global hedge fund Alden Global Capital made an offer to acquire Lee Enterprises for $24 per share, or about $141 million.[11] In response, the board of Lee Enterprises enacted a shareholder rights plan, colloquially known as a "poison pill", in order to ward off the purchase attempt.[3] Then, in early December, the board of Lee unanimously rejected the Alden bid, saying that the Alden proposal "grossly undervalues Lee and fails to recognize the strength of our business today."[12]
In November 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice alleged two Iranian nationals had accessed the company's content management system in the fall of 2020, aiming to post false news about the presidential election.[13]
- ^ "LEE ENTERPRISES, INCORPORATED FORM 10-K". EDGAR. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 2022-09-25. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
- ^ a b c Enterprises, Lee. "About". Lee Enterprises. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
- ^ a b Mullin, Benjamin (November 24, 2021). "Lee Enterprises Enacts Poison Pill to Guard Against Alden Takeover". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
- ^ a b c TownNews.com. "About TownNews.com". TownNews.com. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
- ^ "Lee Enterprises Buys Howard Publications". Editor & Publisher. February 2, 2002. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
- ^ Steinberg, Jacques (February 1, 2005). "Pulitzer to Be Acquired by Lee Enterprises". New York Times. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
- ^ ""Mary Junck of Lee Enterprises named new AP board chairman", Associated Press press release, January 26, 2012". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2015-05-05. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
- ^ "Mary Junck moves to chairman of Lee Enterprises". Lee Enterprises. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
- ^ "Lee Press Release". The Daily Progress. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
- ^ "Warren Buffett Says Goodbye to His Struggling Newspaper Business". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 2020-01-30.
- ^ "Sara Fischer on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
- ^ Bruell, Alexandra (December 9, 2021). "Lee Enterprises Board Rejects Alden's Acquisition Offer". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
- ^ Volz, Dustin (2021-11-19). "WSJ News Exclusive | Iranian Hackers Broke Into Newspaper Publisher Lee Enterprises Ahead of 2020 Election". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-11-24.