The Fang Years: How a Family's Climb to the Top is Taking a Toll

Enlisting the help of some of the city's most powerful figures, the influential Fang family has amassed more than $24 million in real estate and acquired the 135-year-old SF Examiner for only $100; with a $66 million subsidy to run it. But the Examiner is losing money and opponents are taking aim.

Family's Climb Creates Trail of Enemies

The actions of the politically-influential Fang family culminated in the acquisition of the 135-year-old SF Examiner, the flagship of the Hearst Corporation, in March 2000.

But the road to financial success ­ money laundering, alleged fraud and perjury, dirty campaign tactics and journalistic character assassinations of political opponents ­ has created a long trail of enemies and investigations by governmental agencies.

Financial Woes Mount at SF Examiner

The SF Examiner could be on a collision course with financial ruin when the Hearst Corporation's $66 million subsidy runs out in July 2003 ­ or possibly sooner.

According to financial records obtained by the Richmond Review, the newspaper only brought in about $6 million in revenues in 2001, far below its operating expenses of $28 million. Without the more than $2 million a month the Examiner gets from the Hearst Corporation, the newspaper would have lost $22 million last year.

Union Claims Examiner Making 'Bad Faith' Effort

When the Fangs started publishing the SF Examiner in November 2000, they did so without the unions that had been representing the newspaper's editorial and production personnel.

When workers in the pre-press department voted by a three-to-one margin to unionize on Feb. 8, 2002, the Examiner responded by laying off up to 40 percent of the workers in the department, according to the union that represents the workers, Graphics Communications International Union, Local 4N (GCIU-4N).

Bad Blood Boils in Feud Between Fangs, Hearst

Since 1994, when the Fang family backed Proposition J passed with 55 percent of the vote, the costs for legal advertising for non-consecutive daily publications more than doubled, from $2.20 a line in 1991 to $4.78 in 2000. After the Fangs took over the SF Examiner, with a $66 million subsidy, the Independent dropped the price to $3.98 per line in 2001 and 2002.

Charts:

San Francisco's Legal Advertising Costs

Fang Family Corporations

Fang Family Properties

Fang Family Timeline