White Sox Partner Expresses Interest in Tribune

The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday on Chicago real estate mogul Samuel Zell's interest in purchasing a portion of the troubled Tribune Company. It did not mention, however, that Zell is a friend of Jerry Reinsdorf and a partner with Reinsdorf in several ventures, including the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls. The Tribune-owned LA Times did mention the connection.

Considering that Tribune owns the Cubs, we would think Zell's partnership in the White Sox would be newsworthy, but the Tribune views the news through some curious filters.

We suppose it would be a fitting kind of justice if a Sox partner bought some Tribune, with the Cubs as an expensive little accessory. It would be particularly nice to see Zell leverage his interest to bust apart the media monopoly, sell off the television and radio stations, split off the Cubs, and re-dedicate the Chicago Tribune to clean journalism. It's a tall order in Chicago, but it's just the sort of thing champions can do.

By the way, Zell is rolling in dough. He just sold his real estate conglomerate for $23 billion, an estimated $1 billion of which reportedly will go to him alone. Reinsdorf was also a director and shareholder in that venture. The LA Times published a colorful portrait of Zell, also better than the Tribune coverage. Here's how it starts:

He's about 5 feet 5 and has a bald dome and a beard like an Amish farmer. He revels in the nickname he gave himself years ago: "the Grave Dancer."

At 65, Chicagoan Samuel Zell is still apt to arrive at a cocktail party by motorcycle and walk in wearing bluejeans and a Chicago Bears jersey. He thinks like an economist but can talk like a dockworker. He has vacation homes on the beach in Malibu and on the slopes in Sun Valley, Idaho, where people say he skis like a maniac. He's also a paintball fanatic who Forbes says is worth $4.5 billion....

Zell, the son of Polish-Jewish World War II refugees, is all about buying at the bottom. He's the Grave Dancer because of his history of snapping up distressed properties — assets so out of favor nobody else would look at them. He specializes in real estate but has owned companies in a variety of industries over the years, including Schwinn Bicycle Co. and Chicago's Midway Airlines. One Zell acquaintance joked that there would be a conflict of interest if he got involved with Tribune because he also holds a minority stake in the Cubs' cross-town rival, the Chicago White Sox.