National Enquirer Owner David Pecker Is Interested In a Bid For Time Inc.

National Enquirer owner David Pecker has been mulling a potential bid to buy out struggling publisher Time Inc. , according to a story in the July 3 edition of The New Yorker. The nugget is all but buried in an in-depth profile on Pecker's friendship with, and his tabloid's support for, President Donald Trump. Back in April the Sports Illustrated, People and Time publisher was entertaining bids, before ultimately deciding not to put itself up for sale. However, as the New Yorker story notes, even if Time were on the market, Pecker couldn't buy the company outright himself. He would need a deep-pocketed partner. Time, like many peers, has struggled to contend with a declining print business, recently cutting 300 jobs in order to facilitate a shift to digital. Shares of Time have declined more than 23% in 2017, while the S&P 500 index has gained more than 8%.