Jan. 24 at 10:47 a.m.
Filed under:
Chicago executives,
Housing,
Real estate
Elite Street | By Bob Goldsborough | Former Tribune Co. Chief Executive Randy Michaels has listed his 31st-floor, penthouse condominium unit in Streeterville for $989,000.
Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell named Michaels, whose real name is Benjamin Homel, to the company’s executive team in December 2007 and promoted him to CEO in late 2009. Michaels resigned under pressure in October, after weeks of escalating allegations that he and some associates that he had recruited had tarnished the company with boorish, sexist behavior. Get the full story »
Nov. 2, 2010 at 7:27 a.m.
Filed under:
Bankruptcy,
Media,
Newspapers,
Radio
By Reuters
Tribune Co. creditors filed sprawling lawsuits on Monday that take aim at Sam Zell, his banks and advisers for the disastrous leveraged buyout that plunged the publisher into bankruptcy two years ago.
The lawsuit accuses billionaire Zell and the Tribune board of defrauding Tribune’s creditors by pursuing the buyout of the owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune knowing it would lead to bankruptcy. Get the full story »
Oct. 22, 2010 at 4:01 p.m.
Filed under:
Media,
Newspapers
By Tribune staff report
Having lost the support of many employees, his board and the creditors who will soon take over the bankrupt media company, Tribune Co. Chief Executive Randy Michaels resigned Friday, as the company’s board sought to end one of the most tumultuous episodes in the history of the 163-year-old Chicago institution.
Oct. 20, 2010 at 5:45 a.m.
Filed under:
Chicago executives,
Media,
Newspapers
By Tribune staff report
By Michael Oneal, Steve Mills and Stacy St. Clair | Randy Michaels, Tribune Co.’s embattled chief executive, has decided to resign his post at the Chicago-based media company and intends to leave the company before the end of the week, sources close to the situation said.
He will be replaced by a four-member office of the president that the sources said would comprise Eddy Hartenstein, president and publisher of the Los Angeles Times; Tony Hunter, president and publisher of the Chicago Tribune Media Group; Nils Larsen, Tribune Co.’s chief investment officer; and Don Liebentritt, chief restructuring officer.
Oct. 19, 2010 at 2:05 p.m.
Filed under:
Bankruptcy,
Chicago executives,
Media,
Newspapers
By Tribune staff report
By Michael Oneal and Stacy St. Clair | Randy Michaels, the embattled chief executive of bankrupt Tribune Co., said Tuesday he did not resign from the company despite expectations that he might step down from his post or be asked to leave it at a board meeting Tuesday.
“I work here today and I’m still working,” he said on his way to lunch with Chief Operating Officer Gerry Spector.
The board of the Chicago-based media company met at Tribune Tower in Chicago Tuesday amid a swirl of controversy over disclosures of sexist and boorish behavior among Michaels and his hand-picked team of executives. Get the full story »
Oct. 19, 2010 at 9:00 a.m.
Filed under:
Chicago executives,
Media,
Newspapers
Randy Michaels, second from left, listening to Sam Zell's press conference after he took over the Tribune Co. in 2007. (Chicago Tribune / Jose More)
By Michael Oneal and Phil Rosenthal | Tribune Co.’s board is preparing for the possible departure of embattled Chief Executive Randy Michaels, sources close to the situation said, and will explore his fate at a board meeting expected to begin about 9 a.m.Tuesday.
The sources said it was probable the board would conclude that Michaels has been too tarnished by the recent resignation of Lee Abrams, one of his top lieutenants, as well as a critical front-page New York Times story, to continue his tenure.
One source said Michaels was exploring resigning from the company and may present his decision to the board as soon as the Tuesday meeting in Chicago. The source said the board has discussed succession issues and a separation agreement for Michaels. Get the full story>>
Oct. 15, 2010 at 4:03 p.m.
Filed under:
Bankruptcy,
Media,
TV,
Video
By Phil Rosenthal
Lee Abrams. (Handout)
Tribune Co. Chief Innovation Officer Lee Abrams, who began the work week by sending a companywide e-mail that contained content deemed inappropriate, resigned Friday.
The e-mail, the latest in a weekly series of free-form observations and exhortations Abrams sent to all Tribune Co. employees in hopes of inspiring them to reconsider print and broadcast conventions, included links to video newscast parodies. One, which contained profanity and nudity, he labeled “Sluts.” Get the full story »
By Phil Rosenthal and Michael Oneal
Tribune Chief Innovation Officer Lee Abrams. (Tribune file photo)
By Phil Rosenthal and Michael Oneal | Tribune Co. Chief Innovation Officer Lee Abrams on Wednesday was placed on indefinite suspension without pay because of a company-wide memo he sent this week with links to off-color satirical videos, which spurred a rash of employee complaints.
“Lee recognizes that the video was in extremely bad taste and that it offended employees,” Randy Michaels, chief executive of the Chicago Tribune’s parent company, said in an e-mail announcing the suspension. “But, this is the kind of serious mistake that can’t be tolerated; we intend to address it promptly and forcefully.” Get the full story »
Oct. 13, 2010 at 5:33 p.m.
Filed under:
Bankruptcy,
Media,
Newspapers,
Radio,
TV,
Video
By Michael Oneal
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey extended the filing deadlines in Tribune Co.’s bankruptcy case Wednesday to give rival creditor groups more time to propose alternative restructuring plans for the Chicago-based media company.
The move will push the first disclosure hearing on those plans into late November and guarantees that the all-important confirmation hearings in the case won’t be held until sometime next year.
Carey had earlier given Tribune Co. and its various creditor constituencies until this Friday to file any restructuring plans. But junior creditors asked that a company-sponsored plan negotiated earlier this week be filed first and that they be given two extra weeks to decide whether to file competing plans. Get the full story »
Oct. 12, 2010 at 9:04 p.m.
Filed under:
Bankruptcy,
Media,
Newspapers,
TV,
Updated
By Phil Rosenthal
Days after Tribune Co.’s corporate management was characterized in a newspaper article as fostering a sexist “frat house” atmosphere, one of its top executives sent a company-wide e-mail with links to off-color satirical videos.
Among the videos was one the executive, Lee Abrams, labeled “Sluts” in which a gyrating woman appeared to pour liquor on her bare breasts.
Abrams, chief innovation officer of Tribune Co., which owns the Chicago Tribune, apologized “to everyone who was offended” in another company-wide e-mail Tuesday. Get the full story »
Oct. 12, 2010 at 11:05 a.m.
Filed under:
Bankruptcy,
Media,
TV
By Michael Oneal
Tribune Co. and several of its most important creditor groups announced a broad new settlement Tuesday that brings the company closer to resolving its nearly two-year-old bankruptcy case.
The new pact includes a group of senior lenders who had been holding out on a compromise, the company said, as well as the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the case, which represents junior creditors.
Still absent from the settlement, however, are several key junior creditor groups including major bondholder Aurelius Capital Management, a litigious New York hedge fund known for disrupting large bankruptcy cases. Sources close to Aurelius have said the fund plans to file its own plan by the court imposed Oct. 15 deadline. Get the full story »
By Phil Rosenthal
Randy Michaels, second from left, with other Tribune Co. executives at a press conference held by Sam Zell in 2007. (Jose More/Chicago Tribune)
Randy Michaels, Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.’s chief executive, on Tuesday night sent an e-mail urging employees to “ignore the noise” in anticipation of a New York Times story he expected to “apparently paint the work environment at Tribune as hostile, sexist and otherwise inappropriate.” Get the full story »
