Graham Holdings Company
 | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as |
NYSE: GHC S&P 500 Component |
| Industry | Mass media |
| Founded |
August 4, 1947 (as The Washington Post Company) November 29, 2013 (as Graham Holdings Company) |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Key people |
Donald Graham (Chairman and CEO) Hal S. Jones (Chief Finanacial Officer) |
| Products |
Magazines Educational Services Television Cable television Electronic media |
| Revenue |
 US$ 5.12 billion (2010)[1] |
| Operating income |
US$ 547 million (2010)[1] |
| Net income |
US$ 278 million (2010)[1] |
| Total assets |
 US$ 5.158 billion (2010)[1] |
| Total equity |
US$ 2.814 billion (2010)[1] |
| Employees | 20,000 (2010)[1] |
| Website | www.ghco.com |
Graham Holdings Company (formerly The Washington Post Company) is a diversified American conglomerate, best known for formerly owning the newspaper for which it was once named, The Washington Post. The company currently owns Kaplan, Inc., an international provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools, and businesses. In addition, the company owns Post-Newsweek Stations, television stations in six major cities; and Cable ONE, a cable television and Internet service provider with subscribers in midwestern, western, and southern states. The company previously owned Newsweek and Newsweek.com, but sold the magazine in 2010 after years of financial losses.[2]
Corporate history
Graham Holdings Company history dates back to 1877, when the Post was first published. The Washington Post Company was incorporated in the District of Columbia in 1889,[3] and remained a District of Columbia corporation until it changed its place of incorporation to Delaware in 2003.[4] It is a public company and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GHC; it went public in 1971. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Apart from the family of the late Eugene Meyer, Berkshire Hathaway is a substantial shareholder.
2013 Sale of The Washington Post
On August 5, 2013 it was announced that the Washington Post Company would sell the flagship newspaper for $250 million to Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive of Amazon.com. The Washington Post Company agreed to adopt a new corporate name once the sale was finalized. It adopted Graham Holdings Company as the new name effective November 29, 2013.[5] Amazon.com was not involved in the sale.[6] Nash Holdings LLC, a company owned by Bezos, closed the purchase of the newspaper and affiliated publications on October 1, 2013.[7][8]
Education
Kaplan, Inc. is one of the world's largest providers of educational services. Kaplan focuses on three areas: higher education, professional training, and test preparation. Headquartered in New York City under the leadership of CEO Andrew Rosen, Kaplan had $2.2 billion in revenue in 2012. It was formerly Graham Holdings Company's fastest growing division and remains its largest revenue producer.
StudentAdvisor.com is the latest education resource launched by Graham Holdings Company. StudentAdvisor.com is an education research (reviews written by students, alumni, and parents) and comparison destination (tools to download and compare multiple colleges) for students, parents, and lifetime learners.
Broadcasting
The official name of the broadcast division, dating back to the 1970s, is Post-Newsweek Stations. Post-Newsweek stations is based in Detroit, Michigan, and is led by chief executive officer Emily L. Barr.
Stations
Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.
| City of License / Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) | Owned since | Primary affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville | WJXT | 4 (42) | 1953 | Independent |
| Miami - Fort Lauderdale | WPLG | 10 (10) | 1969 | ABC |
| Orlando - Daytona Beach - Melbourne | WKMG-TV | 6 (26) | 1997 | CBS |
| Detroit | WDIV | 4 (45) | 1978 | NBC |
| Houston | KPRC-TV | 2 (35) | 1994 | NBC |
| San Antonio | KSAT-TV | 12 (12) | 1994 | ABC |
Cable
Cable ONE is an Internet and cable television provider based in the Phoenix, Arizona, area serving over 730,000 customers in 19 states.
Interactive
Graham Holdings Company also ownes three firms active in various capacities on the World Wide Web. These include The Slate Group, which publishes Slate, Slate V, The Root, and ForeignPolicy.com.[9] Graham Holdings Company also owns SocialCode, an advertising agency specializing in Facebook and Twitter marketing.
Healthcare
In October 2012, the firm purchased Celtic Healthcare Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Celtic Healthcare, based in Pennsylvania, provides home health care in western, central, and northeastern Pennsylvania as well as Montgomery and Baltimore County, Maryland. It also provides home hospice services in the same areas, as well as owns a 10-bed inpatient hospice in Dunmore, Pennsylvania.[10]
Energy production
In July 2013, Graham Holdings purchased Forney Corp. for an undisclosed sum. The company, which is based in Carrollton, Texas, manufactures equipment that monitors and controls the combustion of coal, natural gas, and other materials. This equipment is sold to electric utilities for use in power generation plants.[11]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "2010 Form 10-K, The Washington Post Company". United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
- ↑ Washington Post. Harman Media buys Newsweek from Washington Post Co. for undisclosed amount.
- ↑ District of Columbia Corporation records show the original Washington Post Company was registered as a domestic corporation in 1889
- ↑ District of Columbia Corporation records show the original D.C.-based corporation's charter was revoked in 2003 and replaced by a Delaware-based foreign corporation.
- ↑ Wilgoren, Debbi. "Washington Post Co. Renamed Graham Holdings Company to Mark Sale of Newspaper." Washington Post. November 18, 2013. Accessed 2013-11-18.
- ↑ "Washington Post to be sold to Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon". Washington Post. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
- ↑ Fahri, Paul (October 01, 2013). "The Washington Post Closes Sale to Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos". The Washington Post (Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post). ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 01, 2013. "Bezos’s $250 million purchase was completed as expected with the signing of sale documents. The signing transfers the newspaper and other assets from The Washington Post Co. to Nash Holdings, Bezos’s private investment company."
- ↑ Clabaugh, Jeff (October 01, 2013). "Jeff Bezos Completes Washington Post Acquisition". Washington Business Journal (American City Business Journals). Retrieved October 01, 2013. "Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is now officially the head of a newspaper, completing his $250 million acquisition of the Washington Post’s publishing business Tuesday afternoon."
- ↑ "The Washington Post Company Announces The Slate Group." Washington Post. June 4, 2008.
- ↑ Clabaugh, Jeff. "Washington Post Enters Hospice Business With Purchase of Celtic Healthcare." Washington Business Journal. October 1, 2012. Accessed 2013-11-18.
- ↑ Clabaugh, Jeff. "Washington Post Buys Utility Products Company." Washington Business Journal. July 18, 2013. Accessed 2013-11-18.
External links
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||