One Zell of a Deal
The Tribune Comapany, which (among other things) owns the Los Angeles Times and KTLA Channel 5, has apparently been purchased by Billionaire Sam Zell, who calls himself a "vulture investor" who specializes in distressed properties. His winning bid calls for him to put up less than 5% of the purchase price with his own money, which tells us
1. Tribune was eager to sell,
2. There weren't any great offers on the table,
3. Most big investors apparently aren't optimistic about the future of the newspapers and television stations that make up nearly all of the Tribune Company, and
4. Mr. Zell is going to be either really, really right or really, really wrong.
After listening to a National Public Radio story about the purchase, the discussion was opened up to questions that, for the most part, focused around the future of the Times.
Gabcast! Club MediaNote #32
***MORE ON ZELL Just for fun, here is a National Public Radio personality profile of new Tribune owner Sam Zell.
posted by Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger) @ 3:16 PM
1 Comments:
I was speaking to my husband about this blog and he and I read the article together that NPR has on their page. Sometimes I feel like this analogy; "You're either the guppy, or you're the shark". It seems that Zell is the shark swimming in a pool full of guppies in regards to this deal involving The Tribune Company; it's not enough to work for one of the listed companies and have the promise of losing your job, you might also forfeit your retirement or take a serious cutback on those funds to save a flailing company. Sounds to me like the small business owners have it easy then joining into a HUGE clongormate and getting cut out of a job you had for 25+ years. I hope he's really, really wrong! =)
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