Corporate Cult of Secrecy Detailed in Bunky Hearst Divorce Saga
By Matt Smith in Media
Fri., Nov. 27 2009 @ 3:15PM
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According to the current issue of Fortune, divorce wrangling between William Randolph Hearst grandson Bunky Hearst and his erstwhile wife, Barbara, revealed the clan and its company's deep dedication to secrecy.
To wit:
...on a deeper level, the case provided a test of how ironclad the Hearst trust is when compared with, say, the dual-class stock system that the Graham family of the Washington Post or the Sulzbergers of the New York Times use to control their dynasties. In those cases, the company's stock is publicly traded, but the family rules through a special class of stock with controlling voting rights.
According to the story, the family and company put up a secrecy Maginot Line when the former Mrs. Hearst demanded to see documents memorializing 15 years worth of Bunky's decisions as a Hearst trustee and director.
The resulting fight, laid out sordidly in Fortune, provides useful perspective on San Francisco's paper of record.
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