• Fortune, Tuesday, December 16, 2008 9:30 AM

The Tribune Company, which recently filed for bankruptcy, was bought out last year with a jerry-rigged deal by billionaire CEO Sam Zell. He put up only around $300 million of his own money and funded the deal with a Tribune employee stock ownership plan. Zell essentially controlled the company through a series of vetoes without owning any equity. Was that good or bad?

Case against Zell: Buying Tribune was a bit of sport for a restless billionaire looking for a new challenge. There was plenty of asset-and cost-cutting and cosmetic changes at his papers, but little evidence of improving the company's products. His only innovation is an online bidding service for foreclosed homes co-owned by the Los Angeles Times.

Case for Zell: Media bosses are not always politic, but can lead successful news organizations, such as Ted Turner at CNN. The advertising market collapsed faster than Zell or anyone else in the media business predicted a year ago. At least Zell was willing to try to fix the company -- which his more than you can say for the company's well-paid former managers.

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