Categories: OLD Media Moves

Lawsuit alleges lapses in company that controls Thomson Reuters

A lawsuit aimed at a member of Canada’s Thomson family alleges serious governance lapses involving the company through which the country’s richest family controls media giant Thomson Reuters Corp.

Alistair MacDonald of The Wall Street Journal writes, “In his suit, which is still pending, Mr. Lawson also accuses members of the Thomson family of an elaborate effort to shield the media clan, whose 58% stake in Thomson Reuters is valued at around 23.2 billion Canadian dollars (US$18.4 billion), from billions in tax payments.

“Mr. Lawson says in his court filings that Thomson family members don’t pay tax on the Thomson Reuters dividends and other income they get through a family holding company called Woodbridge Co. In 2011, the documents allege, Woodbridge distributed about $350 million of its cash on a tax-free basis.

“None of the Thomson interests specifically addressed the tax allegations in their court filings. The existence of Mr. Lawson’s lawsuit and Thomson family members’ response to it have only recently come to light.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.