Zell casts himself as builder of companies, bettor on dark horses

That certainly seems to be the theme of his investment in Tribune, which has suffered from declining circulation at its newspapers and been all but written off by Wall Street. "I just think newspapers are extraordinary brands," he said. "They're world famous, and I just don't think the newspaper industry as a whole has figured out how to capitalize or maximize those values."

He doesn't claim to have a solution in hand. On meeting Tribune's management, "I warned them that my methodology is to ask questions, and I don't kill the messenger."

Tribune's top executives are slated to stay on after the deal's expected closing at the end of this year. Asked what has impressed him about Tribune Chairman and Chief Executive Dennis J. FitzSimons, he replied, "Did I say that I was impressed with Dennis? I don't think I said anything about Dennis. I think I can tell you that I don't know Dennis very well, yet. I think he really wants this to succeed, and I'm hoping that the combination can achieve that."

Among those who have offered advice, he said, was Donald Graham, chairman of Washington Post Co. "I've had numerous other calls like that. I've got to study and listen. I'm not naive enough to think that we know everything after six weeks. Far, far from it.... But by the time we're done, we will know this business inside and out."

Zell said the company's allocation of capital -- that is, where it invests its resources --will be the key to its fortunes.

"That's an extraordinarily important part of the equation. Are we trying to do too much? Are we trying to do too little? Should we allocate more capital to interactive, and if so, what do we get for it? You could argue interactive should be growing faster, and is that the result of a lack of capital? I don't have enough answers yet."

Among the company's best-performing units, he noted, was CareerBuilder, an online recruiting service in which Tribune holds a 42.5% stake.

"Anything that's growing at 25% certainly gets my attention," he said. "I just wish osmosis would permeate all the other entities the company had so that we could in effect have a 25% growth rate across the board."

Zell repeated his now-familiar claim that his interest in the newspaper and broadcasting conglomerate was economic, not political. That said, he hinted at his politically conservative viewpoint from time to time. Asked to assess the five newspapers he reads daily -- The Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times and London's Financial Times -- he quipped that he read the New York Times "to sort of find out what the other side thinks."