Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is selling just over half his 17 per cent stake in the New York Times, Bloomberg reported.  

Mr. Slim sold $250 million of trust securities at the beginning of December. He also locked the shares for three years.

According to the source, Mr. Slim will lose influence at the board of directors with the smaller stake.

The billionaire acquired shares in 2009 when he bought $250 million of the Times' notes. Mr. Slim was the largest shareholder in The New York Times Co in January 2015.

According to Bloomberg, Slim had already sold 0,3 percent of his shares in The New York Times in June 2017.