Grahams Convert Post Shares: Washington Post Co....

Grahams Convert Post Shares: Washington Post Co. stock traded wildly after the controlling Graham family announced that it was converting 10% of its Class A voting shares to Class B shares, which can be publicly traded. The stock opened $21 lower than its Wednesday close of $271 on the American Stock Exchange, but it closed at $261.50, down $9.50. The company announced that Chairman and Chief Executive Katharine Graham, along with unspecified family members and a trust, converted 205,824 of their 2 million Class A shares to Class B shares. The purpose of the conversion was to facilitate financial planning by the Class A shareholders, according to a statement that predicted no effect on the stock price. The converted shares are worth about $54 million.