Michael Ferro Immediately Redefines Tribune Publishing’s Chairman Role
Companion column: Santa Ana Showdown: Tribune’s Bid for Southern California
Michael Ferro’s new title at Tribune Publishing is “non-executive chair.” Since Ferro’s company, Merrick Media, bought a major stake in Tribune earlier this month, he is behaving more like an executive chairman, if not the company’s CEO.
Within the Tribune Tower in Chicago, Ferro has shared his own views on company strategy and operations, from big-picture issues down to more logistical details. In addition, he has visited Tribune executives in both Los Angeles and New York. Those executives, several confidential sources affirm, have been surprised at his forthrightness and sureness, two qualities that come as no surprise to those who have worked with the tech entrepreneur.
Ferro, who became TPUB’s board chair just last week, after buying a leading 16.6% stake in the company (“Tribune Publishing builds a Southern California war chest”) is quickly showing himself to be quite a bit more of an activist board chair than his predecessor, L.A.-based Eddy Hartenstein, who remains on the board. As a new power at Tribune Publishing, I’ve already raised questions about how well Ferro and CEO Jack Griffin will mesh – especially as the company faces a series of tough strategic decisions ahead.
The new chairman’s aggressiveness only reinforces those questions of company direction, and of the stability of a Griffin/Ferro partnership.
First published at Politico Media
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Ferro’s LinkedIn page got a rapid make-over, now led by his new title: “Chairman, Tribune Publishing.”
One key phrase in his new summary: “As chairman of Tribune Publishing, Ferro is determined to usher the historic company into the digital age, focusing on big data and artificial intelligence technology.”
That both borrows from Ferro’s experience as a tech entrepreneur and aligns with Tribune’s own review of its technology.
Ferro declined to talk about his current work until after Tribune Publishing’s March 2 annual earnings call. Tribune Publishing has declined to comment on Ferro’s visits.
Last week, Ferro moved into his third-floor “chairman’s suite” office in Tribune Tower in Chicago. That move, across town from the Sun-Times newspaper, the primary competitor to TPUB’s Chicago Tribune, was a seismic one in the Second City. Ferro maintains his large, minority investment in Wrapports, the Sun-Times’ parent company, but says he relinquished – given the implicit conflict of interest – any operational role with Wrapports.
Already in discussion, though: How might the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times fit together into the future? Everything from a merger to a closer business partnership may be on the table, I’ve learned. Just last fall, both newspaper companies agreed to a deal that has the Tribune printing and distributing the Sun-Times, an insourcing/outsourcing deal now not uncommon in the daily press across the country. That deal produces more than $20 million in annual profit for Tribune.
Consequently, any changes to the relationship between the Tribune and Sun-Times must keep that profitable arrangement – one of the top profit producers for the Tribune – top of mind. In Chicago, the future of the Sun-Times is now under discussion in the press.
In LA., as Ferro met with Times publisher Tim Ryan, the fate of the Orange County Register was on the agenda. The bankruptcy court auction of the Register begins today (Santa Ana showdown: Tribune’s bid for Southern California). Given that Ferro’s investment makes this bid possible, winning the property is a key current priority – for both Ferro and Griffin alike.