Fivespan Partners, the activist investment firm founded by Dylan Haggart and Sarah Coyne, has taken a new stake in The New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT) and is pressing the publisher to lean further into artificial intelligence to accelerate growth. While the size of Fivespan's position has not been disclosed, people familiar with the matter say the firm has engaged privately with the Times' management. Fivespan also sees parallels between the Times' digital subscription model and platforms like Netflix and Spotify, suggesting the company could benefit from similar valuation premiums as AI integration deepens. Currently, more than half of the Times' digital subscribers come from bundled offerings that combine news, games, and cooking contenta strategy Fivespan believes AI could further enhance. The New York Times recently reported adding 230,000 digital subscribers in the second quarter, pushing total subscriptions across digital and print to 11.9 million.
