Ted Fang owned and published the San Francisco Examiner newspaper. Photo: Courtesy the Fang family
Ted “Teddy” Fang, the former publisher of the San Francisco Examiner and other newspapers, died Sept. 9 in his San Francisco area home. He was 61.
An obituary prepared by the family did not indicate a cause of death, but a spokesperson said it was due to natural causes.
Fang became a leader in the Bay Area’s newspaper industry. He negotiated the 1999 acquisition of the San Francisco Examiner, and was pioneering as the nation’s first Asian Pacific American publisher of a major metropolitan daily. He oversaw the difficult transition of the daily from a paid to a free circulation business model while sustaining its ability to be an avenue for some of the community’s major voices, the obituary noted. He was also among the first AAPI and openly LGBTQ+ professionals in the industry.
Fang served as editor and publisher of AsianWeek newspaper in the 2000s, according to his LinkedIn profile, and also worked at the paper as circulation manager and general manager from 1980-1984.
Fang is survived by Tony Thompson, his husband of 27 years, and his mother, Florence Fang.
I knew Ted and his brothers, James and Douglas, from childhood. Their mother, Florence, and my parents were classmates at John Adams Adult School in 1959. Ted and I met over lunch to reminisce old times and share our life experiences a few years ago. The three all passed on way too early and will be missed.