Big news. Dramatic news. Michael Ferro, majority owner of the Sun-Times and the Reader, now owns more of Tribune Publishing than anyone else. He’s bought 5.2 million shares for $44.4 million. His new title is nonexecutive chairman of the Tribune Publishing board. But he’s now a silent partner in Wrapports, the holding company that bought the Sun-Times and Reader. The new chairman is investor John Canning, while Bruce Sagan becomes chairman of a new entity, Sun-Times Holdings.
Tribune Publishing’s $400 million in debt, said Sagan, and brought in Ferro because they needed his money. And, according to Sagan, the Sun-Times is debt free and close to breaking even. “If you are going to bet on something, better bet on us,” he said. “They’re in disarray. [Ferro] left us a growing institution.”
He’s also the ironic emblem of humanity’s endless capacity for war and mayhem, but let that go.
