- Real estate billionaire Sam Zell and other former officers and directors of Tribune Co have reached a $200 million settlement resolving allegations of fraudulent transactions related to the media company’s disastrous 2007 leveraged buyout.
Marc Kirschner, a litigation trustee representing Tribune creditors, filed the proposed settlement on May 31 with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Delaware. The accord requires court approval, and a hearing is scheduled for July 11. Tribune filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection a year later, during the global financial crisis, after advertising revenue tumbled as more readers began getting their news online.
Zell, 77, who also served as Tribune’s chief executive, has called the LBO the “deal from hell.” He is worth $5.6 billion according to Forbes magazine.