Not The Same As The Old Boss

Tribune Co. and Sun-Sentinel sold! This Sam Zell dude sounds a little crazy, at least relative to the dull-ass Trib: The transaction will place Zell, the motorcycle riding, epithet slinging multibillionaire, who just two months ago closed the $39 billion sale of his sprawling real estate company, atop of one...

By Bob Norman

April 2, 2007

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Tribune Co. and Sun-Sentinel sold!

This Sam Zell dude sounds a little crazy, at least relative to the dull-ass Trib:

The transaction will place Zell, the motorcycle riding, epithet slinging multibillionaire, who just two months ago closed the $39 billion sale of his sprawling real estate company, atop of one of the most conservative, buttoned-down companies in America.

It gives a risk-taking financier with no background in journalism control over newspapers that includes the Chicago Tribune , the Sun-Sentinel, the Orlando Sentinel and Los Angeles Times, and big television stations, such as WGN-Ch. 9. And by dialing up the financial

pressure on Tribune, the transaction will force the company and its new employee owners to find answers to questions that have been bedeviling the newspaper and television industries ever since the Internet started stealing their customers more than a decade ago.

This could get interesting -- unlike anything one of the most "buttoned-down" companies of all time has ever done. Let's see what Citizen Zell is all about.

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Journalist Bob Norman has been raking the muck of South Florida for the past 25 years. His work has led to criminal cases against corrupt politicians, the ouster of bad judges from the bench, and has garnered dozens of state, regional, and national awards.

Contact: Bob Norman