The billionaire owner of the venerable Los Angeles Times, who has steered his news organization toward a more Donald Trump-friendly direction, has been falling behind on his bills, raising eyebrows about the paper's future.
According to a report from Oliver Darcy's Status, Patrick Soon-Shiong — who made his fortune in biotech — is finding, like his billionaire counterpart Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post, that changing the political direction of their media organization has a cost that includes the loss of subscribers. The collapse accelerated after the Times issued an internal memo in December 2024 restraining negative reporting of Trump. When the directive leaked, angry readers fled the publication in droves, dealing a serious blow to subscription revenue.
Now the bills are coming due. According to people who spoke to Status, the Times has repeatedly "fallen behind on payments owed to contractors and vendors." The newspaper has regularly failed to make payments on time, falling months behind schedule. In some cases, the Times only paid bills after matters were escalated internally to senior executives or threats of legal action were made.
A Times spokesperson attempted damage control, claiming the company is current on "the majority" of its payment obligations—a telling phrase that confirms the newspaper is still delinquent on some bills.
"The Times is current on the majority of its payment obligations, and payments are overwhelmingly being made in accordance with contractual terms for all active accounts," the spokesperson told Status.
The financial hemorrhaging has sparked internal alarm. Of note, Decatur Holcombe, the paper's senior vice president of finance, recently resigned after privately expressing "concerns" about the state of the business. Though Holcombe denied the characterization in a statement provided by the Times, stating, "Any assertion that I resigned from the company over concerns about the state of the business is completely false," his departure set off red flags among company staffers.
The financial chaos is particularly puzzling given Soon-Shiong's biotech wealth. Over the past two years, he has repeatedly promised to invest in the Times while courting MAGA-friendly personalities for various projects—all while laying off newsroom staff.
In November 2025, the LA Times announced with fanfare that it had recruited conservative journalist Catherine Herridge, formerly of Fox News and CBS News, to host a new weekly investigative series. Herridge praised the newspaper for "partnering with independent journalists" and providing resources "to follow the facts wherever they lead."
Months later, Herridge was likely regretting that enthusiasm, the Status report asserted. Behind the scenes, the relationship has been fraught and contentious, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke with Darcy.
Reportedly, Herridge struggled to collect payments soon after signing her lucrative deal with the Times. The newspaper fell several months behind on payments owed to her—a pattern that only resolved after a protracted battle. Her experience, however, was not isolated and reflects broader cash-flow problems plaguing the organization.
According to Status, the timing comes at an awkward moment for Soon-Shiong, who is simultaneously seeking to raise up to $500 million to take the 144-year-old newspaper public, even as it hemorrhages money.