Chicago real estate magnate and Tribune Co. owner Sam Zell said Tuesday he had no plans to sell the Los Angeles Times to any of the moguls who previously were interested in buying the newspaper, the Associated Press reports.
“I said it to Eli Broad. I said it to Ron Burkle. I said it to David Geffen, and I’m saying it to you,” Zell said at a conference on corporate growth. He then quipped: “Now, if you have a price, we can talk.”
The remark brought laughter from the standing-room-only crowd at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Zell, 65, led an $8.2 billion buyout of Tribune Co. in April. The media company owns 11 daily newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, 23 television stations and the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
Zell’s colorful talk on the workings of mergers and acquisitions included several expletives and a joke involving a male body part.
