 Billboard struggled after its founder William Donaldson died in 1925 and within three years was once again heading towards bankruptcy . Donaldson 's son @-@ in @-@ law Roger Littleford took over in 1928 and " nursed the publication back to health . " His sons , Bill and Roger , became co @-@ publishers in 1946 and inherited the publication in the late 1970s after Roger Littleford 's death . They sold it to private investors in 1985 for an estimated $ 40 million . The investors cut costs and acquired a trade publication for the Broadway theatre industry called Backstage . 
