Billionaire Sam Zell has said a number of times that his interest in acquiring Tribune Co. is purely economic -- not egotism, not passion for the company-owned Chicago Cubs, not a soft spot for newspapers.
The 65-year-old Chicagoan has nicknamed himself the Grave Dancer because of his ability to see profit opportunities where others see miles of bad road.
Zell's dogged pursuit of Tribune has left many people wondering how this dealer in distressed properties would run one of the nation's largest media companies, whose holdings include the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, KTLA-TV Channel 5 and cable channel WGN.
But don't look for sympathy from the paintball fanatic who Forbes says is worth $4.5 billion, say people who have had dealings with a lesser-known enterprise led by Zell. They say that since becoming the largest mobile-home landlord, the company has battled cities across the country, enlisting teams of lawyers to challenge local rent-control laws and raise rents.
"He very proudly calls himself a vulture investor," said Beverly Berry, a mobile-home tenant. "Certainly that's the way he's acted with us."
Zell, who owns houses in Chicago, Malibu and Sun Valley, Idaho, declined several requests to be interviewed. In its recent annual reports, Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc., of which Zell is chairman, argues that rent control amounts to private subsidies for mobile-home dwellers. Equity Lifestyle estimated in its most recent annual report, filed last month, that its "annual rent subsidy" to tenants in California rent-controlled communities was $15 million.
Zell's white beard and elfin stature, his love of motorcycles and his salty speech are probably the most remarked-upon aspects of his public image. He isn't much of a joiner and isn't as active in civic organizations such as the Field Museum, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the United Way as are many business leaders in clubby downtown Chicago.
A person who has met him during the Tribune negotiations described him as "a tough guy" but "a straight shooter."
Zell has seldom if ever spoken publicly about Equity Lifestyle's philosophy or tactics.
Berry, 61, lives in Meadowbrook, a manufactured home community in the San Diego suburb of Santee. Hers is one of many communities across the country that have been battling Equity Lifestyle, a publicly traded real estate investment trust that controls 311 properties in 25 states and Canada's British Columbia. Twenty-eight of the properties are in California.
