Knight Ridder Chairman and Chief Executive Tony Ridder will join McClatchy's board of directors after the sale of Knight Ridder is complete next week, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
Knight Ridder's agreement to be purchased by McClatchy allows the San Jose company two seats on McClatchy's board, but the identity of the second board member remains unknown.
Knight Ridder shareholders will vote on whether to sell the company to McClatchy on Monday in San Jose at Knight Ridder's annual meeting. If the proposal is approved as expected, final papers will be filed the following day and Knight Ridder will cease to exist.
An official announcement of Ridder's appointment to the McClatchy board will be made later that week, the sources said.
Ridder declined to comment. He will become a director at the company that decided to sell 12 Knight Ridder newspapers, including the Mercury News, after purchasing Knight Ridder for $4.5 billion. McClatchy is also assuming $2 billion in Knight Ridder debt.
He will be the second former Mercury News publisher on McClatchy's board -- the other is Larry Jinks, who was publisher from 1989-94.
McClatchy pays directors $35,000 per year plus $1,750 per day for in-person attendance at board of directors meetings, and $1,250 for attendance at committee meetings, according to the Sacramento news group's 2006 proxy statement.
Ridder will also have an option to purchase up to 3,000 shares of McClatchy stock.
Click on the headline above to read Pete Carey's story in the San Jose Mercury News
hey mclcachy people. with tony aboard you better watch your back. look what he did for knight-ridder
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