 | |
.JPG) Lee headquarters | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Nasdaq: LEE Russell Microcap Index component | |
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 1890; 136 years ago (1890) |
| Founder | Alfred Wilson Lee |
| Headquarters | Davenport, Iowa |
Key people |
|
| Products | Newspapers and digital media |
| Revenue |  US$611.4 million (2024) |
| US$4.55 million (2024) | |
| US$−32.8 million (2024) | |
| Total assets | US$649.2 million (2024) |
Number of employees | 4,365 (2022) |
| Website | lee |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
Lee Enterprises, Inc. is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 72 daily newspapers in 25 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 inDavenport, Iowa.[4]
The company also provides online services, including websites supporting its daily newspapers and other publications. Lee had more than 26[2] million unique web and mobile visitors monthly, with 229.1 million pages viewed. Lee became majority partner ofTownNews.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.[citation needed] The company acquiredHoward Publications (16 daily newspapers) for $694 million in 2002[5] andPulitzer, 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 theAssociated 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 withBerkshire Hathaway to acquire BH Media Group's publications andThe Buffalo News for $140 million in cash.[9][10]
In November 2021, global hedge fundAlden 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 ashareholder rights plan, colloquially known as a "poison pill", to ward off the purchase attempt.[3] 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'scontent management system in the fall of 2020, aiming to post false news about the presidential election.[13]
Lee operated a broadcasting division, which it sold in 2000 to pay off debt and to focus on newspaper publishing. Most of the TV stations were sold toEmmis Communications[14] and as of 2007 had been sold onward to other companies.
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011.[15] It emerged from bankruptcy less than two months later. In April 2012,Warren Buffett'sBerkshire Hathaway Inc. took a stake in Lee Enterprises, buying $85 million of the company's debt fromGoldman Sachs Group.[16]
In June 2012, Berkshire Hathaway filed an amendedForm 13F (13F-HR/A) for the period ending March 31, 2012.[17] This document disclosed that Berkshire accumulated $2,119,000 or 1,655,125 common shares of Lee Enterprises, or a 3.2 percent stake.[18] The document said that Berkshire had asked theSEC to keep the transaction secret, a request denied on May 25, 2012.[19]
In April 2013, Lee Enterprises announced that Berkshire Hathaway refinanced the remainingPulitzer acquisition debt equating to $94 million, at no cost.[20] The collateral involved was the TNI Partner stake including theArizona Daily Star andazstarnet.com. This produced a reduction in interest from avariable rate of 11.3% to a fixed rate of 9%, and an extension of thedebt maturity date of the debt from December 2015 to April 2017. At the time of the announcement Lee Enterprises noted there was $893 million left to pay off. Lee paid off and retired its New Pulitzer notes in June 2015, six months before the original maturity date and 22 months before the new maturity date. Lee also refinanced its remaining debt in 2014 in order to extend the maturities from 2015 and 2017 to 2019 and 2022. Lee retired its 1st Lien Term Loan in November 2018, four months before its scheduled March 2019 maturity.
On June 27, 2018, Lee Enterprises and Berkshire Hathaway reached a five-year agreement to allow Lee Enterprises to manage Berkshire Hathaway's newspaper and digital operations.[21]
On January 29, 2020, Lee Enterprises announced an agreement to buy Berkshire Hathaway's BH Media Group publications andThe Buffalo News for $140 million cash. The acquisition comprised 30 daily newspapers in 10 states plus 49 paid weekly publications with digital sites, as well as 32 other additional print products. Daily papers include theOmaha World-Herald,Richmond Times-Dispatch,Tulsa World, andWinston-Salem Journal. Lee entered into a 10-year lease for BH Media's real estate as part of the agreement.[22]
To finance the acquisition, Berkshire Hathaway provided $576 million in long-term financing to Lee at 9% per annum. Lee Enterprises used the funds to pay for the Berkshire properties and to refinance its roughly $400 million in existing debt. Much of this remains from the purchase ofPulitzer Inc. for $1.5 billion in 2005.[23] Berkshire became Lee's sole lender after the deal closed on March 16, 2020.[22]
"We had zero interest in selling the group to anyone else for one simple reason: We believe that Lee is best positioned to manage through the industry's challenges," Buffett said in a statement.[24]
The acquisition was completed on March 16, 2020.[25]
Alden Global Capital purchased a 5.9-percent stake in Lee Enterprises in January 2020.
In November 2021, Alden made an offer to Lee to purchase the rest of the company for roughly $141 million.[26]
To ward off the purchase attempt, the board of Lee Enterprises enacted ashareholder rights plan, colloquially known as a "poison pill", . The shareholder rights plan adopted by the Lee board forbade Alden from purchasing more than 10% of the company for one year. The rationale offered by the board was, "Consistent with its fiduciary duties, Lee's Board has taken this action to ensure our shareholders receive fair treatment, full transparency and protection in connection with Alden's unsolicited proposal to acquire Lee."[3]
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."[27] Shortly thereafter, Alden Global, through its operating unit Strategic Investment Opportunities, filed a lawsuit in state court in Delaware against Lee Enterprises.[28] The Alden lawsuit asserts that the members of the Lee board "have every reason to maintain the status quo and their lucrative corporate positions" and that they are "focused more on [their] own power than what's best for the company."[29]
In mid-February 2022, the Delaware court found in favor of Lee Enterprises. In the face of that setback, Alden said it would file aproxy statement asking the company's shareholders to vote no on board members Mary Junck and Herbert Moloney during the March 2022 board elections.[30] This attempt also failed, as shareholders returned both directors to the Lee board despite Alden's opposition.[31]
In May 2022 Lee Enterprises reportedly laid off roughly 400 staffers, roughly 10% of the workforce. The reduction was spread across about 19 of the chain's 75 newspapers and included roles in corporate headquarters.[32]
Some of the layoffs included the editor ofThe Eagle inBryan, Texas and the publisher ofThe Bismarck Tribune inBismarck, North Dakota.[32]
In February 2025 Lee Enterprises suffered a cybersecurity event that prevented them from laying out or publishing papers for several days.[33] Before the week's end, editors could again publish papers and back-issues were being delivered.
Following the attack, Lee Enterprises management warned employees to freeze their personal credit due to concerns that cyberattackers had accessed personal employee data. The warning was confirmed by an Independent Record sports reporter.[34]
Lee Enterprises in June 2025 appointed Nathan Bekke as Chief Operating Officer. He started working for Lee in 1988 and has been with the company for more than three decades, holding a number of leadership positions.[35]
Lee Enterprises owns 72 daily newspapers and approximately 350 specialty publications in 26 states.[36] The company's portfolio grew substantially, nearly doubling its audience size, with the acquisition of BH Media Group's publications in early 2020, including theOmaha World-Herald,Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch andTulsa World.[22]
In January 2020, Lee Enterprises sold its newspaper and digital media operations in southern Oregon to Country Media, Inc. The sale includedThe World (Coos Bay), theBandon Western World andThe Umpqua Post. Lee had purchased the papers as part of its acquisition ofPulitzer, Inc. in 2005.[37][38]
In March 2020, Lee sold theSanta Maria Times,The Lompoc Record, The Hanford Sentinel and theSanta Ynez Valley News, all in California, to Santa Maria News Media Inc., a newly-formed company led by a group of Canadian newspaper executives.[39]
In January 2023, Lee Enterprises ceased publication of its Lebanon, OregonLebanon Express weekly newspaper and rolled coverage of the area into theAlbany Democrat-Herald. In June 2023, Lee sold theDaily Journal and three other newspapers to Better Newspapers Inc.[40] In September 2023, Lee sold theArizona Daily Sun toWick Communications.[41] In October 2023, Lee soldThe Southern Illinoisan toPaxton Media Group.[42]
Other publications Lee has formerly owned include theNorth County Times,The Garden Island,The ProvoDaily Herald,Daily Chronicle,Rhinelander Daily News,Shawano Leader,Napa Valley Register andThe Ledger Independent ofMaysville, KY
Source:[43]
In May 2000, Lee Enterprises sold most of its remaining TV stations to Emmis Communications for $562.5 million.[44] KMAZ was the last TV station to be sold on January 2001.[45]
| City of license /Market | Station | Channel | Years owned | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tucson, AZ | KGUN-TV | 9 | 1986–2000 | ABC affiliate owned byE. W. Scripps Company |
| Durango, CO–Farmington, NM | KREZ-TV | 6 | 1995–2000 | CBS affiliate owned byNexstar Media Group |
| Honolulu, HI | KGMB | 9 | 1977–2000 | CBS affiliate owned byGray Media |
| Mason City, IA | KGLO-TV/KIMT ** | 3 | 1954–1980 | CBS affiliate owned byAllen Media Group |
| Quincy, IL | KHQA-TV ** | 7 | 1953–1986 | CBS affiliate owned byRincon Broadcasting Group |
| Great Bend–Hays, KS | KSNC | 2 | 1995–2000 | NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Topeka, KS | KSNT | 27 | ||
| Wichita, KS | KSNW | 3 | ||
| Mankato, MN | KEYC-TV ** | 12 | 1960–1977 | CBS affiliate owned by Gray Media |
| McCook, NE–Oberlin, KS | KSNK | 8 | 1995–2000 | NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Omaha, NE | KMTV-TV | 3 | 1986–2000 | CBS affiliate owned by E. W. Scripps Company |
| Albuquerque–Santa Fe, NM | KGGM-TV/KRQE | 5 | 1985–2000[a] | CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Las Cruces, NM–El Paso, TX | KZIA/KMAZ | 48 | 1993–2001 | KTDO,Telemundoowned-and-operated (O&O) |
| Roswell–Carlsbad, NM | KBIM-TV | 10 | 1989–2000[a] | CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Portland, OR | KOIN | 6 | 1977–2000 | |
| Huntington–Charleston, WV | WSAZ-TV | 3 | 1971–2000 | NBC affiliate owned by Gray Media |
| AM Station | FM Station |
|---|
| City of license / Market | Station | Years owned | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honolulu, HI | KGMB 590 | 1977–1980 | KSSK, owned byiHeartMedia |
| Mason City, IA | KGLO 1300 ** | 1937–1977 | Owned byConnoisseur Media |
| Moline, IL | WMDR 96.9 ** | 1970–1975 | WXLP, owned byTownsquare Media |
| Quincy, IL | WTAD 930 | 1944–1986 | Owned bySTARadio Corporation |
| WTAD-FM/WQCY 99.4 ** | 1948–1986 | WCOY, owned by STARadio Corporation | |
| Mankato, MN | KEYC-FM 99.1 ** | 1968–1976 | KEEZ-FM, owned by Connoisseur Media |
| Omaha, NE | KFAB 1110 | 1976–1986[b] | Owned by iHeartMedia |
| KGOR 99.9 | 1976–1986[b] |
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |