{"id":29501,"date":"2021-04-17T17:15:09","date_gmt":"2021-04-17T22:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=29501"},"modified":"2021-04-17T18:01:59","modified_gmt":"2021-04-17T23:01:59","slug":"never-mind-swedish-billionaire-gives-bid-rescue-chicago-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2021\/04\/17\/never-mind-swedish-billionaire-gives-bid-rescue-chicago-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Never mind: Swiss billionaire gives up bid to rescue Chicago Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Chicago Tribune<\/p><\/div>\n

On second thought, cancel the ticker tape parade and key to the city for Hansj\u00f6rg Wyss.<\/p>\n

The Swiss billionaire who burst on the scene last month as the \u201cpotential savior\u201d<\/a> of the Chicago Tribune won\u2019t be challenging Alden Global Capital\u2019s takeover of Tribune Publishing after all.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hansj\u00f6rg Wyss<\/p><\/div>\n

Citing three sources, the New York Times<\/a>\u00a0was first to report Saturday that Wyss had taken himself out of the bidding after examining Tribune Publishing\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Wyss had come to believe it would be difficult for him to realize his ambition of transforming The Chicago Tribune \u2014 the company\u2019s flagship paper and the one he was most interested in \u2014 into a national publication,\u201d according to Times reporter Katie Robertson.<\/p>\n

Wyss, who's been a major donor<\/a> to progressive causes, had joined Maryland hotel executive Stewart Bainum Jr. in proposing a $680 million bid for Tribune Publishing \u2014 exceeding that of New York-based hedge fund Alden Global Capital.<\/p>\n

While Bainum remains committed to pursuing ownership of Tribune Publishing, according to multiple reports, his real interest is in the Baltimore Sun. Now with Wyss out of the picture, future ownership of the Chicago Tribune remains uncertain.<\/p>\n

\"No doubt this is disappointing news but we will not stop fighting for civic-minded ownership at the @chicagotribune,\" tweeted<\/a> Tribune reporter Greg Pratt, president of the Chicago Tribune Guild. \"Our newspaper is a vital, profitable institution and we need leadership that is committed to our city and state.<\/p>\n

\"I am grateful for Stewart Bainum\u2019s continued efforts to save the company from immoral Alden Global Capital and know our next owner is out there.\"<\/p>\n

(An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Wyss as Swedish in the headline.<\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On second thought, cancel the ticker tape parade and key to the city for Hansj\u00f6rg Wyss. The Swiss billionaire who burst on the scene last month as the \u201cpotential savior\u201d of the Chicago Tribune won\u2019t be challenging Alden Global Capital\u2019s takeover of Tribune Publishing after all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29501"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29501"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29510,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29501\/revisions\/29510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}