Board member Cohen won't run for re-election

A New York Times Co. director and member of the Ochs-Sulzberger family, Daniel H. Cohen, has told Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. that he won't stand for re-election at the company's yet-to-be scheduled annual meeting this year.

Cohen (left) also is a trustee of the family trust that holds a majority of the special Class B shares, the company said yesterday, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing Cohen's decision. Those shares give trustees the right to elect 70% of the NYT Co.'s 14-member board of directors, allowing the family to control the enterprise. The trustees have told the company they intend to "advise'' the board's nominating and governance committee on a suggested nominee to replace Cohen, the filing says.

Sulzberger and Cohen are cousins. Cohen, about 57 years old, has been a board member less than three years, a relatively short time. A former New York Times executive, he was nominated in February 2007 to fill the seat that had been held by Sulzberger's sister, Cathy J. Sulzberger, who had been a board member for five years. She chose to not run for re-election.

Cohen is a fourth-generation member of the family, The Wall Street Journal said in its story about the director's move. The family's ties to the company date back to 1896, when Adolph Simon Ochs acquired control of the paper. Cohen founded DeepSee LLC, an oceanic exploration and submarine leasing company, in 2007. From 1999 to 2006, he was president of Dan Cohen & Sons LLC, a television production company that focused on reality series and programs, the company said at the time he was nominated to the board.

Cohen was senior vice president over advertising of the New York Times from 1996 to 1999, before Sulzberger removed him from that job. He had held several other positions at the Times company in the advertising, circulation and corporate planning departments beginning in 1983.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

[Photo: NYT Co.]