Zell

Real estate mogul Sam Zell, who took control of media giant Tribune Co. about six months ago, defended yesterday the staffing and page cuts under way at The Sun and its other newspapers as necessary in the worst advertising climate in decades. In a conference call with Tribune Co. reporters, Zell said reducing staff by as much as 25 percent in some newsrooms and shrinking and redesigning the company's newspapers were the only options to ensure short-term survival and to allow a longer-term reinvention of the American newspaper.

Tribune Tower was in crisis, and the illustrations of penguins installed in the building's ornate lobby were meant as a constant reminder. With Tribune Co. revenues sliding and managers struggling to adjust to an Internet revolution, executives in early 2007 turned to a Harvard Business School professor to motivate employees. The penguins in the building's display cases stood on melting icebergs - the professor's metaphor for an industry experiencing rapid and potentially fatal change.

CHICAGO -- The parent company of The Baltimore Sun and its creditors are in the early stages of negotiating a plan of reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court that sources said likely would transfer control of the troubled media conglomerate from Chicago billionaire Sam Zell to a group of large banks and investors that holds $8.6 billion in senior debt. The plan is still taking shape, the sources said, and much could change as negotiations continue. But the general contours of a new capital structure for the Tribune Co. are coming into focus, and the plan centers on a debt-for-equity swap that probably would give the senior lenders a large majority ownership stake in the reorganized company.

Aside from the business suit he was wearing, which he joked was rented for the occasion, Sam Zell was never more himself than when he appeared at a New York lender conference in April 2007 to hawk his $8.2 billion buyout of Tribune Co. Slinging one-liners and a couple of his trademark expletives, the self-assured billionaire held a crowd of potential backers in thrall as he explained why he was willing to bet his reputation on a transaction that...

A difficult economy and a steeper-than-expected decline in revenue could prompt the new leadership of Tribune Co. to re-evaluate its plan to keep all of the media giant's assets, Tribune chief executive Sam Zell said yesterday. Zell, the motorcycle-riding real estate mogul who took control of Tribune in an $8.2 billion sale in December, has previously said he intended to keep Tribune's core newspapers. Besides The Sun, those papers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday and smaller papers in Florida, Virginia and Connecticut.

Samuel Zell's first foray into publishing came when he was in high school in the 1950s. He would visit the magazine vendors under the El tracks in Chicago and buy up copies of Playboy for 50 cents. Then he would go home to the suburbs and sell the magazines to his pals for three or four times what he paid. "I see markets," he once said in an interview with CNBC, recalling that venture. "I've always been intrigued by inefficient markets." Zell, who went on to make billions in real estate, is seeing inefficient markets once again, this time in newspapers.

It must have been quite a sight in baggage claim at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Crane Kenney, Tribune Co.'s general counsel and corporate secretary, was on his mobile phone getting yelled at by Chicago billionaire Sam Zell, who was calling from a jet cruising at 35,000 feet. Kenney had just arrived in Arizona, where he had gone 2 1/2 weeks ago to oversee the Cubs in spring training. He earlier had called the real estate magnate's right-hand man, Bill Pate, with what ostensibly should have been good news.

Sam Zell's taking effective control of Tribune Co. for a relatively modest cash outlay could make him the biggest winner in yesterday's proposed sale of the Chicago-based media company. Zell, a Chicago real estate magnate, would gain control for an investment that might not exceed $500 million. That sum would give him 40 percent of the stock, with an employee stock ownership plan holding the rest. But Zell might never need to go that far. His interest in the company would be vested in a warrant - essentially an option to purchase the shares - that could be exercised any time within 15 years of the completion of the deal.

CHICAGO -- Tribune Co. Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis J. FitzSimons announced his resignation yesterday, as the media company completes its $8.2 billion deal to go private under Chicago billionaire Sam Zell, who is expected to take over as CEO. That deal, expected to close today, will pass control of the media conglomerate to Zell, who, under a prior arrangement, will then become Tribune's board chairman. A source at Tribune said Zell would also become chief executive.

On December 10, 2003 ELKAN RIES MYERS JR., beloved husband of Gloria Myers (nee Barr); beloved father of Cathy Hodin of N. Potomac, MD and Lauri Zell of Potomac, MD; devoted father-in-law of Daniel Hodin and Jeffrey Zell; devoted brother of Ann Katz; loving grandfather of Jamie, Lindsay and Matthew Hodin, Jason, Carly and Ryan Zell. Services at SOL LEVINSON & BROS INC., 8900 Reisterstown Rd at Mt. Wilson Ln on Friday December 12 at 10 a.m. Interment Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Cemetery, 2100 Belair Rd. Contributions in his memory may be directed to The Alzheimer's Association, 1850 York Rd., Suite D, Timonium, Md. 21093.

Zell C. Hurwitz, a banker, investor and philanthropist, died Thursday of respiratory failure at Sinai Hospital. He was 82. The son of a banker and a homemaker, Zell Charles Hurwitz was born in Baltimore and raised on Springdale Avenue. After graduating from Forest Park High School in 1948, he earned a bachelor's degree in 1952 from the Johns Hopkins University and a law degree in 1954 from the University of Maryland. By profession, Mr. Hurwitz was a certified public accountant, a licensed real estate broker and a banker.

CHICAGO -- The parent company of The Baltimore Sun and its creditors are in the early stages of negotiating a plan of reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court that sources said likely would transfer control of the troubled media conglomerate from Chicago billionaire Sam Zell to a group of large banks and investors that holds $8.6 billion in senior debt. The plan is still taking shape, the sources said, and much could change as negotiations continue. But the general contours of a new capital structure for the Tribune Co. are coming into focus, and the plan centers on a debt-for-equity swap that probably would give the senior lenders a large majority ownership stake in the reorganized company.

As Tribune Co. acknowledged yesterday that it received a federal subpoena as part of criminal charges against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, sources confirmed that a close associate of company chief executive and chairman Sam Zell has been interviewed by the FBI. The Tribune also has learned that the associate, Nils Larsen, is the unidentified financial adviser who allegedly was asked to help get Chicago Tribune editorial writers fired. Larsen, a Tribune Co. executive vice president, is a 38-year-old financial whiz who was instrumental in Zell's takeover of Tribune Co. Neither Larsen nor Zell responded to requests for comment.

Baltimore Sun parent Tribune Co. filed for voluntary bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 yesterday, in a bid to restructure crippling debt that the company said became unsustainable in a recession and the worst advertising climate in decades. The media giant, owner of The Sun and community newspapers that make up the Baltimore Sun Media Group, said it has sufficient cash to keep operating its group of newspapers and television stations, among them the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times.

Tribune CEO Sam Zell said yesterday that the media conglomerate has chosen five bidders for the Chicago Cubs. Zell said during a conference call with lenders that separate bids have been made on Wrigley Field, the nation's second-oldest baseball stadium. The team's sale must be approved by Major League Baseball. "We hope to have a deal to MLB by the end of the year," said Zell, the real estate mogul who last year led an $8.2 billion buyout of the company, whose holdings include The Baltimore Sun. He said he expects "rapid" approval.

Real estate mogul Sam Zell, who took control of media giant Tribune Co. about six months ago, defended yesterday the staffing and page cuts under way at The Sun and its other newspapers as necessary in the worst advertising climate in decades. In a conference call with Tribune Co. reporters, Zell said reducing staff by as much as 25 percent in some newsrooms and shrinking and redesigning the company's newspapers were the only options to ensure short-term survival and to allow a longer-term reinvention of the American newspaper.

Chicago real estate mogul Sam Zell has become the favored suitor for Tribune Co. - owner of 11 daily newspapers, 23 television stations and the Chicago Cubs - with a $33-a-share bid that offers a clear premium for a company that has been buffeted by new media challengers, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. Investment bankers are working feverishly to try to strike a deal, but so many details remain to be resolved that the company might not be able to meet its self-imposed deadline to conclude deliberations by the end of the month, the person familiar with the negotiations said.

Tribune Co.'s board of directors negotiated into early this morning on a deal aimed at handing control of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, The Sun and other major media properties to maverick Chicago billionaire Sam Zell for $13 billion.

Tribune Co.'s top executives said yesterday that the company's newspapers, including The Sun, will be reduced in size and redesigned by the end of September as part of further cost cutting amid continued declines in advertising revenue. Randy Michaels, the Chicago company's chief operating officer, disclosed Tribune's plans in a conference call with the company's creditors. Among other things, he said the company intends to move its newspapers to a 50-50 mix of news content and advertising.

A difficult economy and a steeper-than-expected decline in revenue could prompt the new leadership of Tribune Co. to re-evaluate its plan to keep all of the media giant's assets, Tribune chief executive Sam Zell said yesterday. Zell, the motorcycle-riding real estate mogul who took control of Tribune in an $8.2 billion sale in December, has previously said he intended to keep Tribune's core newspapers. Besides The Sun, those papers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday and smaller papers in Florida, Virginia and Connecticut.