This month Richard Desmond tells us he tried to buy News International. He may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but he’s quite an operator.

Media moguls are rarely shy and retiring pussy cats. They tend to have the sharpest of elbows and claws, if not always the thickest of skins. From Beaverbrook and Bloomberg to Murdoch and Kane, a ‘larger than life’ character is also a prerequisite.

Richard Desmond is the latest baron on the block, and we have an exclusive interview with him in December’s edition of MT. He is quite an operator. When we wrote a piece about him back in 2003 –penned by a former employee, and containing the extraordinary revelation that Desmond made one of his underlings stand on the table during a meeting, drop his trousers and call himself a c**t – there were all sorts of shenanigans involving Desmond’s people (in various guises) trying to get hold of copies before publication. The same thing happened this time, with strange individuals with funny voices ringing our printers.

Desmond is held in low esteem by the majority of the media’s chatterati, who find his Express newspapers risible. If a middle-market attitude to the news and gossip is what you’re after, it’s hard to see why anyone in the UK would select the Express over the Daily Mail – either from the newsstand or online. But people do. And one thing you cannot deny is that he is riding them hard enough, after cutting costs to the bone, to make substantial profits

Our piece contains the astonishing revelation that earlier this year Desmond went marching into Rupert Murdoch’s office in New York with a cheque for £1 billion to ‘buy News International’. Desmond says Murdoch refused to sell but ‘acknowledged it was a good offer’. The Sun and the News of the World, not to mention The Times in the hands of an ex porn baron. That would be quite something

The Wapping tabloids are held in great affection by Rupert Murdoch, and in the good old days made him pots of cash. Times are now harder and it’s unlikely that his son (and business heir apparent) James holds them in such ardour. Previous generations may have shrugged and winked at the News of the World phone tapping scandal. But the coming Prius-driving, clean-living generation finds it intensely embarrassing. Don’t write Desmond off. He’s very determined, has lots of money in his pockets and many, many scores to settle.