Sam Zell news stories on Newser

Trib CEO to Jump Before Being Pushed Out

Alp_Arslan — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:36:00 CDT

Weeks after the New York Times detailed the raucous behavior of Tribune CEO Randy Michaels, he is reported to be resigning. The Times article described a boys club atmosphere created by Michaels and his chief innovation officer, Lee Abrams, at the bankrupt newspaper and TV company. Abrams was recently fired,...

How Frat Boy Hijinks Helped Screw the Tribune Co.

Mary Papenfuss — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 06:38:00 CDT

The shockingly sexist frat boy hijinks of top managers of the Tribune Company created an alienating workplace and "bankrupt culture" that helped send the financially troubled media firm into a tailspin, reports the New York Times . Just after radio exec Randy Michaels was hired by billionaire owner Sam Zell to...

Sam Zell Steps Down as Tribune CEO

Nick McMaster — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:05:07 CST

Maverick takeover artist Sam Zell resigned as CEO of the Tribune Co. today, naming Randy Michaels as his successor. Zell is still chairman of the news giant he bought, disastrously, in 2007. Tribune, which has been bankrupt for almost a year, yesterday won an extension until February of the right...

Tribune Sells Cubs for $800M

Nick McMaster — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:45:47 CDT

It’s official: Tribune Co. has signed an agreement to sell a majority stake in the Chicago Cubs to the Ricketts family, the Chicago Tribune reports. Picked as the winning bidder for the franchise in January, family negotiated a deal to pay $800 million for a 95% stake in the Cubs,...

Lenders, Not Zell, May Run Tribune Co.

Harry Kimball — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:09:17 CDT

The bankrupt Tribune Company could emerge from protection with its top creditors—and not chairman Sam Zell—in charge, the Chicago Tribune reports. Zell exerts control based on $90 million he spent to secure the option of buying 40% of the company for $500 million, and a $250 million loan....

'I Made a Mistake' Buying Tribune Co.: Zell

Nick McMaster — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:11:24 CDT

Sam Zell is famous for his business acumen. He made a near-psychic call to sell his office-property company for billions just months before the market tanked. But the magnate now tells Bloomberg another deal he made was as boneheaded, in retrospect, as the Equity Office Properties deal was prescient: buying...

Times to Ax 300 Jobs, Local News Section

Neal Colgrass — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:37:02 CST

Amid growing gloom in the newspaper business, the Los Angeles Times plans to lay off 300 workers and shelve its local news section, LA Observed reports. Foreign and national news will be downplayed to fit local stories into the front section, the publisher said in a memo today. Seventy newsroom...

Family Buying Cubs for $900M

John Johnson — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:55:00 CST

It looks like the Cubs are returning to family ownership, the Chicago Tribune reports. The billionaire Ricketts family is the winning bidder to buy the baseball team from Sam Zell's Tribune Co. The $900 million deal isn't sealed yet—other baseball owners must approve, for one thing—but it's expected...

Auction for Cubs Nears End

Kevin Spak — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:43:46 CST

The bidding for the Cubs is nearly over. The Tribune Co. could select a winner from the three finalists within a week to 10 days, the Chicago Tribune reports, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the team is about to be sold. Tribune would still need to negotiate with the winner...