Former U.S. National Intelligence Council Chair Gregory Treverton has written to the U.S. Treasury Department, asking it to stop a consortium that includes India-based SUN Group from buying a controlling stake in Forbes magazine, citing national security concerns. The story was first reported by Politico which also published a copy of Mr. Treverton’s letter.
The consortium had already dropped SUN Group as its lead investor, Axios had reported in April. As per that report, the consortium was concerned about SUN Group’s Vice Chair Shiv Khemka’s links to Russia (and Russian President Vladimir Putin) and the issues that could cause with U.S. regulators. Forbes was hoping to close a deal by end March for $800 million, according to the report.
Mr. Treverton, as per the letter posted by Politico, asked a committee overseen by the U.S. Treasury to stop the Forbes acquisition by billionaire and new consortium lead investor Austin Russell, who founded Luminar, which makes technology for self-driving cars. (The Hindu has not independently verified that Mr. Treverton wrote the letter).
