Sam Zell acknowledged from the start that his deal for the Tribune Company was flawed. “I’m here to tell you that the transaction from hell is done,” Zell said last December when he sealed his $8.2 billion takeover of the publisher of The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times.

But just how hellish this deal was, particularly for Tribune employees, became painfully clear on Monday when the 161-year-old company filed for bankruptcy.

There is a lot of blame to go around, and much of it will be directed at Zell, the real estate baron whose knack for buying when everyone else is selling.

He financed much of his deal’s $13 billion of debt by borrowing against part of the future of his employees’ pension plan and taking a huge tax advantage. In the wake of this week’s Chapter 11 filing, Tribune employees probably be left with very little.

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