Savings Experiment: Snow Removal
The Money Man Behind Rick Santorum: Who Is Foster S. Friess?
Sam Zell formally completed his buyout of the Tribune Company yesterday. It only cost $8.2 billion and months of difficult negotiations -- but now he can go out and get the pitching his newly acquired Chicago Cubs have long needed to win it all. Well, maybe not. Word on the street is that he plans to sell the Cubs and Wrigley Field for a cool billion as soon as he can.Zell has made it clear that he plans on allowing the various units within the Tribune Company to stand on their own feet. By his count, there are over 60 entities within the company, and each one needs to strike out on its own. As Zell put it, "As I've said over and over again, there are something like 60 entities in the Tribune Co. and I view it as 60 ways to get lucky."
Zell also plans to sell a number of Tribune assets -- and there are plenty to choose from. Tribune owns 23 television stations and nine newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun (for a complete list of assets owned by the company, take a look at this Wikipedia page). Tribune also owns stock in a number of companies, some or all of which could be liquidated for hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions.
So while the media environment is a difficult one, and newspapers in particular face a difficult future, I wouldn't be surprised to see Zell turn the Tribune Company around, and in short order. He's already moved to get rid of the old guard, which had gotten fat on the troubled company. Former CEO Dennis FitzSimons stepped down yesterday, taking $38 million in cash and prizes with him. Losing a few more executives like that will do the Tribune a world of good -- and maybe with the money saved getting rid of the corporate fat cats, Zell can find a way to keep the Cubs and grab a World Series ring.
Goldman Earnings Sink After Buffett Dividend
Johnson & Johnson's Income Falls 23%
Burberry Shares Leap on Sales Update
