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Copies of the New York Times sit for sale in a rack July 23, 2008, in New York City. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the publisher of the New York Times and one of many Sulzberger dynasty members roaming the halls of the company, announced in a Monday meeting that he has begun the process of searching for a successor.

"One of the challenges of any business is succession, and that certainly holds true for family succession planning," Sulzberger said in text provided to International Business Times by the New York Times Co.

The announcement, first reported by Politico, came near the end of the publisher's speech at a "State of the Times" meeting.

"I’ve been in my role as publisher for more than 20 years, and I’ve hit my mid-60s, so it should come as no surprise that the task of choosing my successor has begun," he said. "Within two years we intend to name a deputy publisher."

The three men speculated to succeed Sulzberger are his son Arthur Gregg Sulzberger, his nephew David Perpich, and his cousin's son Sam Dolnick. The family has controlled the paper since Sulzberger's great-grandfather, Adolph Ochs, bought it in 1896.

Sulzberger told his colleagues that the process of picking the next in line would involve the board of the company, senior management and the family trustees.

"It is our intention to be as transparent as we can as this unfolds," he said.