Richard Riordan’s paper profits

Former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan is returning to his business roots.

The ex-venture capitalist, who banked a personal fortune of hundreds of millions running investment firm Riordan, Lewis & Haden, now plans to launch a weekly newspaper. Most media experts give the 71-year-old entrepreneur extremely long odds in getting a newspaper off the ground, especially in a media market as competitive as that of Los Angeles. But Riordan, who ended his second term in June 2001 and in March lost a bid to be the Republican candidate for governor, promises to deliver the paper. His short list of names for the new broadsheet: “The L.A. Tribune, The L.A. Herald, the L.A. Citizen-Patriot and the L.A. Observer.” Says Riordan, “Half of the people I have total respect for think I’m crazy, and the other half think it’s doable.”

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