April 7th, 2007
Billionaire Zell to Google: Show me the money
UPDATE: Why Google WILL pay for content
"If all of the newspapers in America did not allow Google to steal their content, how profitable would Google be?" Samuel Zell observed during a Stanford Law School appearance this week, the Washington Post reports.
The seasoned real estate investor, and newly minted investor in the news business, is cited as decrying that newspapers could not economically sustain the practice of allowing original articles, photos and other content to be used free by Internet news aggregators.
Zell emerged victorious Monday in a bid to take Tribune Co. private and will become chairman of the media conglomerate, which owns and operates many daily newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, and radio and television stations.
Just as he aggressively pursued his investment in Tribune, Zell is setting his sights now on Google in order to maximize his own ROI:
"We have a situation today where effectively the content is being paid for by the newspapers and stolen by Google, etcetera. That can last for a short time, but it can’t last forever. I think Google and the boys understand that. We’re going to see new deals and new formulas in the media space that reflect the reality of cost benefit,” as cited by The Stanford Daily.
YOU GO SAM!
UPDATE: Why Google WILL pay for content
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