Was That Rupert Murdoch on the Grassy Knoll in Times Square?

OK, conspiracy theorists: Chew on this one a while:

Morgan Stanley got even by selling their [New York Times Co.] stake in the Sulzberger family game. But to whom? I’ll bet Rupert Murdoch secretly bought it. Why Murdoch? Think about it: 1) He obviously believes newspapers should be kept alive as a family-owned business. 2) He obviously believes that it’s OK for a newspaper to be a non-profit organization—he’s supporting NY Post losses to the unharmonious tune of over $40 million a year. 3) But he’s smart enough to know he can never wrestle control of the NY Times away from the stubborn Sulzbergers like he did with the feckless Wall Street Journal’s Bancrofts, so he secretly bought Times stock so he could greenmail the Sulzbergers.

Somehow I doubt this, but it's intriguing. And we'll know soon enough: purchase of more than 5 percent of the stock in a public company has to be reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission. My guess is that Morgan Stanley dumped the stock on the open market. But maybe not!