Prof. Gates' African History Project Sold

Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, Jr. yesterday denied suggestions in The New York Times that he and business partners sold the educational website Africana.com to Time-Warner because it was in financial distress.

"He had that story in his head," said Gates of Times reporter David D. Kirkpatrick. "We weren't looking for a sale--it just sort of dropped in our laps."

Gates, who is DuBois Professor of Humanities, and Africana.com co-founder K. Anthony Appiah, professor of Afro-American studies and philosophy announced the sale of the website on Sept. 7.

Gates said the company sold for a "very fair price," but did not disclose details of the deal.

The site, which focuses on the history and culture of African peoples throughout the world, will remain commercial-free and Gates, Appiah and their staff will retain editorial control for a period of five years.

Appiah said that Time Warner, the media giant that owns CNN, Warner Brothers and Time Magazine, is a perfect partner for the site because of the wealth of intellectual property it owns in all areas of Africana.

"Time Warner owns...the best sources for providing information about daily news in Africa and incredible archives of very serious photographs," Appiah said. "And...having access to sounds and images [of popular culture] will be a tremendous position."

After Time Warner's merger with America Online, Africana.com's content will be incorporated into the AOL service, allowing for it to reach an even broader audience, a possibility that excites Gates and his colleagues.

"What this does is basically ensure that Africana will be the leading black portal on the Internet," Gates said. "We thought that would take years to realize."

The Money Factor

Gates and his collaborators denied the sale came about because of financial distress, but said that continued stable funding for the site was a major reason for the sale.

"From our point of view the most exciting thing is that it gives us a bunch of years of commitment to funding to go on doing the work," Appiah said.

Africana.com does not publish banner ads on its website and had hoped to support itself through sponsorships, using public television as a model. At the time of the sale, AT&T had signed on as their first major sponsor.

Gates said that he had high hopes for this business model and anticipated that with its financial position the site could operate for a period of years.

"We had ample resources on hand," he said. "We weren't in a desperate situation. If no one had responded I would have become worried. But we would not have been worried for 2 or 3 years."

Both Gates and Appiah praised Time Warner for acquiring a company that will not bring them a quick and easy profit.

Appiah said Time Warner CEO Gerald M. Levin's interest in public service contributed to the purchase.

"A philosopher-king is slightly overblown, but he's someone who really does believe that an important part of the responsibility of large corporations is giving back to the community," he said.

But Gates' colleagues said the acquisition will ultimately make Time Warner money.

"They're interested in the overall enhancement of their product," said Al Holman, a venture capitalist who collaborated with Gates. "My experience tells me that if you do that right you make money too."

Online business experts said Time Warner may hope to use the site to capture black web users.

"With a monolithic organization like Time Warner, it's not going to give them any significant incremental profit, but it will certainly complete a product," said Cooma Chelliah, Senior Vice President of britannica.com, the online site of Encyclopedia Britannica.

From the Yard to Wall Street

Gates and Appiah launched the site on Martin Luther King's birthday in 1999, largely to sell copies of the Africana encyclopedia on CD-ROM and in print.

The day after the launch, Gates and his family were the only visitors, Gates joked.

But by March 2000 the site had tens of thousands of visitors a day and $3 million in venture capital funding.

Before the acquisition, 51 percent of company was held by Harvard Square Netcasting, a company owned by Gates and Appiah along with entertainer Quincy Jones, former Education School professor Harry Lasker and media executive Martin Payson.

According to Gates, the flirtation with Time Warner began at a celebration marking the Afro-American studies department's 30th anniversary in last March, which Levin attended to endow a professorship named for Jones.

Personal links tied Time Warner to Africana.com even before the purchase. Gates and Levin have known each other for more than 10 years and Payson was formerly vice chair of the company.

The Time Warner deal was a Gates production down to the details. He personally negotiated the terms in late June and early July.

Lawyers drew up the final agreements over the summer, and the owners signed the contract on August 24. Gates, who was in the hospital for his second hip surgery, signed from his bed.

"It's a fantasy for me," said Gates. "It's unbelievable. We took a very good idea that was destined never to be popular and a multinational corporation--two multinational corporations--decided, because of the value of the content, that it was worth incorporated into the corporations."