JACK WELCH, the former head of General Electric, is weighing up a $600 million (£319 million) bid to buy The Boston Globe from The New York Times in a move that would mark the famed chief executive’s first foray into newspapers.

Mr Welch, known as “Neutron Jack” for his cost-cutting, has hired JPMorgan to advise him on a potential bid. He has also teamed up with Jack Connors, an American advertising executive.

Discussions between all the parties have been going on for at least the past month, according to Wall Street sources. Mr Welch and Mr Connors, founder of the Boston firm Hill Holliday, have pledged $25 million each towards acquisition.

The pair want to build a consortium of like-minded Boston business people to complete a deal.

Neither Mr Welch, Mr Connors nor The Boston Globe would comment, but a story outlining the deal appeared on the newspaper’s front page yesterday morning.

The New York Times, which bought the ailing Boston newspaper for $1.1 billion in 1993, said in a statement: “We constantly review our portfolio of properties to assess their continuing relevance to our strategy.”

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