Is Jack Shafer Worth $1M?

We didn’t really wake up this morning intending to spend the whole day writing about the Washington Post Company’s business, but it seems to be working out that way. Digital media site Paidcontent.org has pieced together some evidence as to what the Post paid for Slate.com last year:

“I made some basic calculations based on Washington Post’s two recent 10-Q filings, and the acquisition cost for Slate, which was acquired in November last year and closed in Q1 this year, seems to be about $17 million,” Rafat Ali writes.

No price has been made public, but Ali’s prediction fits nicely in the $15 million to $20 million range rumored at the time–or slightly less than half of what Microsft sunk into it. If you think of how few writers Slate has–including here in D.C. Jack Shafer, Timothy Noah, and Dahlia Lithwick–that works out to be about $1 million a writer, with maybe a bit extra for Mickey Kaus.

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