How 209 Tribune Co. Executives Divvied Up $180M

The breakdown of cash that creditors are suing to be get back

Before Los Angeles Times chief executive David Hiller left the Tribune Company in 2008, he got a bonus. A few of them, actually: “$3,972,558 in a deferred bonus, $2,328,067 for his stock, $2,083,333 in phantom equity, a total of $3,050,523 in excise tax gross ups, and $3,960,000 in executive transition.”

This, according to a document, posted by the Chicago Reader on Friday, listing the 209 Tribune Company managers and former managers “who came into quite a bit of money when Sam Zell took the company private back in December of 2007.”

Hiller made off with $15.4 million, according to the document, though that’s quite a bit less than the $28.7 million Tribune Co. CEO Dennis FitzSimons got.

All of that cash is suddenly relevant, as creditors of the now-bankrupt Tribune Company have begun the process of suing the so-called “Trib 209” to get it back.

Click here for the 209 page PDF. (Warning, it takes a little while to load.)

Comments