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The New York Observer has a new owner, 25-year-old law student, Jared Kushner, the son of jailed New Jersey real estate developer, Charles Kushner. Published reports said Kushner paid nearly $10 million for a majority stake in the 19-year old weekly broadsheet centered on New York's elite business, political, social and media spheres.
STAR POWER The New York Times first named Kushner—an NYU law student—as a prospective buyer Saturday, July 22. Dealwatchers, however, wondered whether it will be the elder Kushner who will really take the helm at the paper after his August parole from the Newark halfway house where he has taken up residence to carry out a two-year prison sentence for tax evasion and other offenses. The Kushner buzz came the day after a Los Angeles Times piece on the weekly's failed sale to Robert De Niro and his Tribeca film friends after the parties couldn't agree on terms. Rumors of an auction first surfaced earlier this year for the weekly that loses nearly $2 million annually, the LATimes said. In January, two prospective suitors London's Sunday Times named were Variety publisher Reed Elsevier and Bruce Wasserstein, whose private equity fund owns New York magazine and The Deal LLC. After the failed sale to De Niro & Co., it looked like history might repeat itself. Seven years ago, faded media mogul Conrad Black reportedly tried to scoop up the broadsheet, a deal which also collapsed. MAKING HEADLINES The Observer, with a circulation of 50,000, has been long-financed by billionaire founder and publisher Arthur Carter, who will retain an interest in the outlet, the NYTimes said. After spending time on Wall Street, Carter went on to own The Nation and The Litchfield County Times, and hold a significant stake in the East Hampton Star. Every time he sold a newspaper, onlookers wondered whether the Observer was next, as Carter began focusing on his other passion, sculpting. The paper, known for pink pages and front-page caricatures isn't all gossip for the social and power-obsessed. Among its groundbreakers:
—Carolyn Murphy
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