Not much to elaborate - but I figured I ought to type something in this space, so: Who owns SDMB?
At the bottom of every page is this notice:
I bolded the pertinent sentence.
That is to say, it is owned and operated by the Chicago Reader, Inc
Jim
Scroll down.
Keep scrolling.
Nope, further.
Look, if you can still see this message, you haven’t scrolled down far enough.
Scroll, baby, scroll until you can’t scroll any more.
Still not their yet, keep going. I’m predicting you’ll discover the answer to your question any moment now…
Stranger
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While it may seem at times that advertisers offering services about penile dysfunction and opinions on why Democrats suck have taken over the SDMB, the real answer is still further down. Keep scrolling.
Stranger
OK, I’ll reword the question: Who owns Chicago Reader, Inc.?
It’s stockholeders.
For some more information, The Chicago Reader article by the Association of Alternative Newspapers.
We could disappear you, but we’d have to tell you. 
And you do not want to mess with them. Getting stockholed is a sad way to go, lad.
The Illuminati, the Grays, the reptile aliens, and the Antarctic mole Nazis are the main shareholders.
Thanks, but I’m a little wierded out by the attempts at humor by the other posters. Am I violating some norm by asking about this? Or is my sense of humor just really different from some other posters?
Getting back to the question: Who are the stockholders? How many of them are there? How much does each of them own?
BTW, I should mention two points. First, I have no problem with private ownership, getting wealthy by selling things to other people, or any of that. Also, this is about as far as I’m prepared to go. If the information past this point is secret, it’s not that big a deal; I’ll live with it. But I would note the irony of an organization committed to fighting ignorance holding back on such basic information.
I fail to see why your ignorance of the details of the Reader’s stock ownership constitutes “holding back” basic information. If they are a publicly-held company, the information you seek is a public record, probably available online. Just because it is not handed to you on silver platter does not mean anyone is holding it back from you.
The Chicago Reader has never, as far as I know, said it is committed to fighting ignorance. I think they’re just there to make a buck. And Og bless them, as you have said above. They give us a space in space to post everything that occurs to our little brains.
It’s my understanding that they are privately owned. That means, in the US, that you don’t have to divulge much information about specifics.
The latter, particularly insofar as the information you asked for can be found at the bottom of every Straight Dope webpage.
You make it sound as if the SDMB is a cabalistic underground organization to whom the staff and ownership is known only to a select few conspirators who communicate via spycraft and coded messages. If you look here you’ll find names, addresses, phone numbers, general editorial and rate policies clearly listed. They don’t list any financials, but their revenue and distribution information can no doubt be had by anyone with a plausible reason to requires it–say, a potential advertiser–and may, depending on how the company is incorporated, be public information.
Stranger
For the record, the Chicago Reader is a privately owned company.
Heh. No better way to hide the truth than to tell it to everybody while winking.
“But there is no B-3 bomber.” “Perfect! Deny it even exists!” – Wag The Dog
Stranger
But it isn’t publicly held.
I read through it a few times. It does not say who the owners are.
I wasn’t referring to Chicago Reader, I was referring to SDMB. Sorry, I should have made that clear.