The Stealth Media Mogul

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Worth an estimated $5 billion, Philip Anschutz founded Qwest Communications and owns or controls stakes in some 100 businesses. Among them: railroads; oil companies; cattle ranching; wind farms; national park concessions; professional hockey, basketball and soccer teams; Regal Entertainment Group, the largest movie operator in the US; the Staples Center and Kodak Theater in Los Angeles; the 02 Dome in London, where the late Michael Jackson planned 50 concerts; and movie production house Walden Media. Launching free tabloid throwaways, as Anschutz has for the past five years, seems like a puzzling fit in a collection of sports and show business properties. Anschutz has been giving away newspapers since 2004, the year he bought the San Francisco Examiner for $11 million. He has used the 139-year-old paper to create brand extensions for two other free papers and a social-networking venture. In 2005, he launched the Washington Examiner; in 2006, the Baltimore Examiner. Both were also free and carried the San Francisco Examiner's famed "Eagle" masthead. Last year he rolled out local Web sites targeting 90 cities under the Examiner name, packed with user-generated content from contributors called "examiners." These bloggers are paid based on page views their content generates.


The Stealth Media Mogul