Zell: Tribune Buy Was "Mistake"

Chicago billionaire Sam Zell has proven quite adept at playing the real estate market but is not so savvy in the media world. His purchase of the Tribune Company has turned out to be a wretched investment, as the company filed for bankruptcy in late last year with $13 billion in debt. Now, Zell is stuck with it, as no one wants to merge with the company, a decision he likened to "asking someone in another business if they want to get vaccinated with a live virus--There's not a long list of people who want to buy newspaper companies today." Zell did have some reasons to be optimistic regarding his fortune while speaking to Bloomberg, though. He said that he sees the housing market beginning to "bottom out."