As late as 1993, Nan Tucker McEvoy, granddaughter of San Francisco Chronicle founder M. H. de Young and chair of Chronicle Publishing Company's board of directors, declined an offer of $800 million made by Hearst Corporation for Chronicle Publishing.
She told Editor & Publisher that the sale of the San Francisco Chronicle would take place "over [her] dead body", and was widely quoted.
However, with the growing consolidation of print and broadcast media in the 1990s, the other shareholding heirs of the de Young family decided to sell the assets of CPC in 1999 when the consolidation trend in the United States was at its peak.

The movement to sell was partly facilitated by the action of a special stockholders' meeting in April 1995, in which Mrs. McEvoy was ousted from the Chronicle Publishing Company board and therefore from her position as chair.
Although Mrs. McEvoy kept her 26.3% ownership share in the company's stock, which together with the 7% held by her son Nion McEvoy gave them a formidable one-third shareholder voting bloc if they chose to vote together, she no longer exerted direct control over the management of The Chronicle or its editorial positions, and could not retain the clout she previously held in the disposition of Chronicle Publishing Company's assets, including The Chronicle.

Over the latter half of 1999 into 2000, the units of the company were sold separately to different entities:
San Francisco Chronicle: Hearst Corporation (longtime owners of The Examiner, which was divested upon the purchase of the Chronicle amid protests that San Francisco would be left with only one newspaper)
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: The New York Times Company (owners of the nearby Boston Globe)
The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois): Pulitzer, Inc.
KRON-TV: Young Broadcasting (which paid a record $820 million for the station, then disaffiliated it from NBC in the wake of a conflict with the network)
Partner network BayTV went to Young with the sale and was folded in August 2001.

WOWT and KAKE: LIN TV, which swapped the stations to Benedek Broadcasting for cash and that company's WWLP in Springfield, Massachusetts)
Chronicle Books: Purchased by Nion McEvoy, Chronicle Books' editor-in-chief, son of Nan Tucker McEvoy and great-grandson of San Francisco Chronicle founder M. H. de Young
MBI Publishing: Purchased by New York City investment firm Flagship Partners, Inc.
With the exception of the Pantagraph and the book imprints, all of the former Chronicle Publishing assets have met some degree of criticism, misfortune, or both.
Concerns about the Telegram & Gazette being pared down into a "[Boston] Globe West" arose in Worcester while Hearst's purchase of the Chronicle led to the Examiner having to reinvent itself under its new local ownership as it struggled.
The television properties became a strain on their new owners as the Chronicle–LIN–Benedek deal pushed Benedek Broadcasting into bankruptcy with most of the company (including the former Chronicle) stations being purchased in 2002 by Gray Television.
Young Broadcasting struggled in the years since purchasing KRON-TV, having sold four stations and pare down operations at KRON to keep afloat due to the heavy debt incurred by the massive purchase of the station.
KRON itself also suffered due to the loss of its NBC affiliation to KNTV, later followed by its decision to affiliate with low-rated My Network TV.
Young itself filed for bankruptcy in 2009, but emerged the next year; it sold itself to Media General in 2013, and that company owns KRON at present.

Twenty-four de Young family shareholders received at least $2 billion divided among them from the sales of the Chronicle Publishing assets.
As late as 1993, Nan Tucker McEvoy, granddaughter of San Francisco Chronicle founder M. H. de Young and chair of Chronicle Publishing Company's board of directors, declined an offer of $800 million made by Hearst Corporation for Chronicle Publishing. She told Editor & Publisher that the sale of the San Francisco Chronicle would take place "over [her] dead body", and was widely quoted. However, with the growing consolidation of print and broadcast media in the 1990s, the other shareholding heirs of the de Young family decided to sell the assets of CPC in 1999 when the consolidation trend in the United States was at its peak.
The movement to sell was partly facilitated by the action of a special stockholders' meeting in April 1995, in which Mrs. McEvoy was ousted from the Chronicle Publishing Company board and therefore from her position as chair. Although Mrs. McEvoy kept her 26.3% ownership share in the company's stock, which together with the 7% held by her son Nion McEvoy gave them a formidable one-third shareholder voting bloc if they chose to vote together, she no longer exerted direct control over the management of The Chronicle or its editorial positions, and could not retain the clout she previously held in the disposition of Chronicle Publishing Company's assets, including The Chronicle.
Over the latter half of 1999 into 2000, the units of the company were sold separately to different entities:
San Francisco Chronicle: Hearst Corporation (longtime owners of The Examiner, which was divested upon the purchase of the Chronicle amid protests that San Francisco would be left with only one newspaper)
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: The New York Times Company (owners of the nearby Boston Globe)
The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois): Pulitzer, Inc.
KRON-TV: Young Broadcasting (which paid a record $820 million for the station, then disaffiliated it from NBC in the wake of a conflict with the network)
Partner network BayTV went to Young with the sale and was folded in August 2001.
WOWT and KAKE: LIN TV, which swapped the stations to Benedek Broadcasting for cash and that company's WWLP in Springfield, Massachusetts)
Chronicle Books: Purchased by Nion McEvoy, Chronicle Books' editor-in-chief, son of Nan Tucker McEvoy and great-grandson of San Francisco Chronicle founder M. H. de Young
MBI Publishing: Purchased by New York City investment firm Flagship Partners, Inc.
With the exception of the Pantagraph and the book imprints, all of the former Chronicle Publishing assets have met some degree of criticism, misfortune, or both. Concerns about the Telegram & Gazette being pared down into a "[Boston] Globe West" arose in Worcester while Hearst's purchase of the Chronicle led to the Examiner having to reinvent itself under its new local ownership as it struggled. The television properties became a strain on their new owners as the Chronicle–LIN–Benedek deal pushed Benedek Broadcasting into bankruptcy with most of the company (including the former Chronicle) stations being purchased in 2002 by Gray Television. Young Broadcasting struggled in the years since purchasing KRON-TV, having sold four stations and pare down operations at KRON to keep afloat due to the heavy debt incurred by the massive purchase of the station. KRON itself also suffered due to the loss of its NBC affiliation to KNTV, later followed by its decision to affiliate with low-rated My Network TV. Young itself filed for bankruptcy in 2009, but emerged the next year; it sold itself to Media General in 2013, and that company owns KRON at present.
Twenty-four de Young family shareholders received at least $2 billion divided among them from the sales of the Chronicle Publishing assets.
Chronicle Publishing Company