Zell: Tribune Could Exit Bankruptcy This Year

A day after Tribune Co. asked a bankruptcy court for more time to complete its reorganization plan, Chairman and CEO Sam Zell said Tuesday the Chicago media giant could exit Chapter 11 as early as the end of the year. "No plan has been put forward yet, though everybody's working on one, and I suspect that some time between now and maybe as early as the end of the year, it will exit from bankruptcy," Sam Zell said. Zell sounded a somewhat positive note about the economy in general. He said he believes the residential real estate market has reached an equilibrium where prices will stop falling, which should stabilize other parts of the economy. Newspapers in particular have been hammered by the collapse of real estate advertising.