Some retired executives take up golf or gardening. John F. Welch Jr., the former chief of General Electric, has been looking into what would be a far less relaxing pursuit: running a newspaper.
有些退休的企業主管改打高爾夫球或蒔花弄草。奇異前執行長威爾許則在注意尋找一項很不休閒的活動：辦報。
Mr. Welch and Jack Connors, the co-founder of the Boston advertising firm Hill Holliday, are exploring the possibility of making an offer to buy The Boston Globe from The New York Times Company, according to people briefed on the plan.
據了解這項計畫的人士透露，威爾許和波士頓希爾好樂迪廣告公司共同創辦人康諾斯，正在探尋向紐約時報公司價購波士頓環球報的可能性。
Mr. Welch is not the only multimillionaire thinking of becoming a newspaper baron. David L. Geffen, the music impresario and a co-founder of DreamWorks SKG, and Eli Broad, a real estate developer, have explored making bids for The Los Angeles Times. Robert C. Embry Jr., president of the Abell Foundation in Baltimore, has made repeated efforts to buy The Baltimore Sun.
威爾許並不是唯一一位想成為報業大亨的億萬富豪。共同創辦夢工廠的音樂經理人葛芬及房地產開發商布洛德也有意出價買下洛杉磯時報。巴爾的摩艾貝爾基金會總裁安伯利則多次想買下巴爾的摩太陽報。
But newspapers, perhaps the ultimate trophy asset even as the industry appears to be in a free fall, may be too much even for previously successful business executives.
但即使在報業業績似乎直直落之際，報紙仍是最大獎的資產，對這些原來事業有成的執行長仍是極大的負擔。
Four months ago, Brian Tierney, a local public relations and advertising executive, acquired The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News from Knight-Ridder and declared, "The next great era of Philadelphia journalism begins today with this announcement."
四個月前，費城公關及廣告執行長提爾尼，向奈特芮德新聞社收購費城訊問報和每日新聞報，並宣稱：「費城報業下一個紀元從今天這項宣布開始。」
Last week, he was forced to scale back his plans significantly. In a letter to the company's employees, he said the paper's finances were in a "very difficult position." He suggested that "without immediate and dramatic changes to the business," the company would "not have enough cash to make our interest payments" in 2007.
但上周，他被迫大幅縮編計畫，在一封致公司員工的公開信中，他說，報紙的財務「狀況非常困難」。他指出，「如果不馬上大幅改革企業」，這家報社在二○○七年「將沒有足夠的現金可以付貸款利息」。
Whether Mr. Welch, who lives in Boston full time, will pursue The Boston Globe remained an open question. A person close to him said he had been "looking for something to sink his teeth into for a long time," and in recent weeks he and his wife, Suzy Welch, a former editor of The Harvard Business Review, had become "enamored" of the idea of owning The Globe.
威爾計目前全天候住在波士頓，他是否要買波士頓環球報仍有待觀察。一位親近他的人士說， 他一直在找「他可以長期潛心投入的志業」。最近幾周，他和他的妻子、原來擔任《哈佛商業評論》前總編輯的蘇西．威爾許一直「念念不忘」擁有波士頓環球報的構想。
Still, it is unclear how serious Mr. Welch is about making an offer. Mr. Connors called the speculation about his talks with Mr. Welch "very premature" and said, "I have conversations about possible business deals all the time and 90 percent of them never move forward."
但目前仍不清楚威爾許對這項提議到底有多認真，康諾斯說，有關他和威爾許的談話「仍言之過早」，他並表示，「我常常和他談起可能的企業交易，但其中百分之九十從未實現。」
Mr. Welch's secretary said he was teaching yesterday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was not available. "His comment is, 'no comment,' " she said.
威爾許的祕書說，他昨天仍在麻省理工學院上課，找不到他發表意見。她說，「威爾許的評論是，『不予置評』」。
Mr. Welch is valuing The Globe, which The Times bought for $1.1 billion in 1993, at $550 million to $600 million.
威爾許評估波士頓環球報的資產約值5億5,000萬美元到六億美元，紐約時報公司1993年是以11億美元買下該報 。
A spokeswoman for The Times, Catherine Mathis, said: "We constantly review our portfolio of properties to assess their continuing relevance to our strategy. We view the Globe as an important asset, and we have taken many steps that we believe will improve its performance."
紐約時報公司女發言人凱撒琳．馬希斯說：「我們經常檢視我們的資產投資組合，以評估他們和我們整個投資計畫的相關性。我們視環球報為重要的資產，我們也採取很多我們確信可以改善表現的措施。」
Could Mr. Welch turn around The Globe It is unclear whether Mr. Welch, whose nickname is 『Neutron Jack』 — for someone who lays off people but leaves the physical assets intact — would be the kind of owner the community is seeking.
威爾許有那個能耐扭轉波士頓環球報嗎？目前仍不清楚，威爾許是否是業界心目中所要找的那種人，威爾許素有「中子彈傑克」的綽號，因為他常為了保留資產完整無損而大幅裁員。
（摘自紐約時報）
詞解
multimillionaire 億萬富豪
The Boston Globe 波士頓環球報
The Los Angeles Times 洛杉磯時報
The Baltimore Sun 巴爾的摩太陽報
The Philadelphia Inquirer 費城訊問報
in a free fall 直直落
sink his teeth into 潛心去做
enamored 迷戀，念念不忘
premature 言之過早
Neutron Jack 中子彈傑克