That's Sam Zell, the biggest name in newspapers at the moment. The real estate mogul recently bought the Tribune Co., which owns many of the nation's top papers like The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Orlando Sentinel and Newsday. For fun, the deal also included the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field. Well, once the transaction was completed, Zell went on a tour of his new properties, though he only stirred up controversey by cussing at meetings and being outspoken on how newspapers should be ran. See below and watch until the very last second.
According the Times' article, Zell may be forced to sell one or two of his newly accquired newspapers because of debt owed from the buyout. Newsday has been mentioned and I've also heard that The Baltimore Sun may be up for grabs.
While Zell obviously comes off not being very professional at times, I believe you have to give credit to the man. He didn't become a billion by accident and for better, or worse, newspapers need people like him. They need his money and his drive to turn things around. And though some people may not like them, it's encouraging to me to see people like Zell with the Tribune Co. and Murdoch with the Wall Street Journal still believing in newspapers as a business and as a quality investment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/business/media/07zell.html?_r=2&ref=media&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
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