Morgan Stanley Investment Management, which owns 8 percent of the NYT’s non-voting stock, has had it up to here with Arthur “My Apologies” Sulzberger Jr. and is calling for an end to the two-tiered stock system that is keeping him in power:

November 7, 2006 — Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger Jr. could be headed for a bruising battle with one of The New York Times’ largest shareholders. Morgan Stanley Investment Management, a Times investor that began in April agitating for a shakeup, recently took a fresh swipe at the Sulzbergers, saying that under the family’s control the publisher’s financial performance has lagged far behind its rivals during the past two years. The Morgan Stanley fund, based in London and led by Hassan Elmasry, presented its unfavorable findings to directors at the Times after commissioning a report on the company’s corporate governance practices. The fund again urged the Times – which under Pinch’s stewardship has been criticized for bloated executive pay packages and a more than 50 percent drop in its stock price – to end the dual-class structure of its shares. The Times told Elmasry Friday that only the controlling Sulzberger family trust can change the structure and “they have given no indication of any willingness or desire to do so.” With the Times paying little heed to his criticisms, Elmasry’s next steps may be bolder, corporate governance experts said.

Maybe once “Pinch” is gone, the Times will hire some new headline writers.