NewsDecember 20, 2007
Tribune CEO will step down when buyout deal closes
CHICAGO -- Tribune Co. set the stage Wednesday for turning over the reins to real estate mogul Sam Zell, announcing that Dennis FitzSimons will step down after five years as CEO as soon as its $8.2 billion buyout is completed. The deal was expected to close today barring last-minute delays, putting Zell in charge of an ailing media conglomerate at a time when the newspaper industry is in its worst fix ever...
The Associated Press
CHICAGO -- Tribune Co. set the stage Wednesday for turning over the reins to real estate mogul Sam Zell, announcing that Dennis FitzSimons will step down after five years as CEO as soon as its $8.2 billion buyout is completed.
The deal was expected to close today barring last-minute delays, putting Zell in charge of an ailing media conglomerate at a time when the newspaper industry is in its worst fix ever.
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The 66-year-old billionaire will become chairman and may also take over as chief executive -- a post left conspicuously unaddressed in the announcement and which the company refused to comment on.
Regardless whether he is set to take the CEO's job, as the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday, citing anonymous sources, Zell will be the power behind the company and is expected to push ahead with selling the Chicago Cubs and making cuts and possibly other asset sales.
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