Who's Dancing Now?

Sam Zell is a well known Chicago financier who long ago earned the nickname the "Grave Dancer" for a seeming uncanny ability to buy real estate and distressed businesses, turn them around and then sell them. In 2007 Zell sold his Equity Office Properties to Blackstone Group near the top of the real estate market. Zell also bought the Chicago Tribune Group last year taking it private in the process. Today though the Grave Dancer found he was on the other side of the trade as The Tribune Group declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

A company memo tried to explain what had happened. "It has been, to say the least, the perfect storm. A precipitous decline in revenue and a tough economy have coupled with a credit crisis, making it extremely difficult to support our debt. All of our major advertising categories have been dramatically impacted."

Zell is one of the smartest guys in the room and even the best make bad trades. Also I can only summarize here and there's obviously more to this story. But it is just another example of a smart fellow who didn't see it coming and took on too much debt in the process.