From a New York Times obit by Robert D. McFadden headlined “Sam Zell, 81, Tycoon Whose Big Newspaper Venture Went Bust, Dies”:

Sam Zell, the real estate tycoon who specialized in distressed assets and acquired The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and other storied but troubled newspapers in a widely criticized leveraged buyout of the parent Tribune Company in 2007, died on Thursday.

His death was announced in a statement by Equity Group Investments, the firm that Mr. Zell founded and of which he had been chairman.