Former Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner is downplaying reports he is being considered to head Tribune Co. after it exits bankruptcy protection.
The 68-year-old told a St. Louis radio station Tuesday that “somebody in the media” read more into his association with Tribune than was real.
Eisner told “The McGraw Millhaven Show” on KTRS that he had invested in Tribune debt.
Eisner is a close friend of John Angelo, co-founder of Angelo Gordon & Co., which owns much of Tribune debt and may own part of the company after it emerges from Chapter 11.
Tribune newspapers the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune have said Eisner was being considered for a leadership role.
Eisner called Tribune “fantastic” but says that doesn’t mean he’d end up running it.
How could Eisner and his crew possibly be any worse than Zell, Michaels & company? For that matter, the kids at any Kindercare could do a better job.
The man who almost ran Disney into the ground would be perfect to finish off whats left of the Trib.
[[Doug Today at 2:29 pm How could Eisner and his crew possibly be any worse than Zell, Michaels & company? For that matter, the kids at any Kindercare could do a better job.]]
Zell bought a company that was in disarray, he didn’t put it in disarray. That would be the people who overpaid for Times-Mirror, eight billion dollars in 2000. And then they never worked to integrate the two companies.
Here are the facts:
[["Our new company will be the best positioned, local market media company for the future," said John Madigan, Tribune's chairman and chief executive officer.
The premium is one of the highest ever paid for a publicly traded company. Because the arrangement did not involve competitive bidding, it includes a mechanism under which other bidders would have 20 calendar days to top Chicago-based Tribune's offer.
After completion of the tender offer, an offer made directly to shareholders, each Times Mirror share will be exchanged for 2.5 shares of Tribune stock. If Tribune scoops up less than 28 million of Times Mirror's shares, the company will offer stockholders cash instead. If the offer is fully subscribed, Tribune will repurchase up to $700 million of the stock to achieve an equivalent of a 50-50 stock, cash deal, the companies said.
Los Angeles' Chandler family, which owns more than 60 percent of Times Mirror, initiated the talks and have pledged to vote in favor of the agreement.]]
The Chandlers and Madigan are the ones who over-extended Tribune/Times-Mirror and the Chandlers and Madigan all made tons of money in the process.
Assume there will be an expanded Comics section on Sunday.