Sam Zell's Comments After Tribune Purchase
One more post before the holidays. Not what I expected to post but there is no lack of material just lack of time. I find Sam Zell's comments on Wednesday regarding the Tribune purchase to be very refreshing. Zell made three comments which yield clues as to the long term success of the wily real estate billionaire. One was that content is key to success with this purchase; two is that he isn't interested in cutting his way to properity; three is that his purchase is a long term investment.
In today's world of quarter-to-quarter Wall Street psychosis, we are reminded by Zell's comments that kowtowing to Wall Street's mentality ultimately results in failure. Failure for the obvious reasons. One, a short term focus typically results in lack of long term strategy and long term investment. ie, Win the battle, lose the war; two, content in any business is a function of intellectual capital. I don't care whether that is an auto company, a newspaper, a real estate company or an oil company. While oft quoted as cliche yet seldom truly understood by CEOs, employees actually are the most important asset of any business. While there are many times extenuating circumstances or failed policies of prior leadership or aggressive bets on new business gone awry, the reality is job cuts are one of the most easily measured indicators of a CEO's failed policy. It's nice to see there are still brilliant leaders out there who inherently understand this.
Much of success in life is based on calculated risk taking and being in the right place at the right time. I have no doubt Sam Zell has other great qualities separating him from his competitors. Frankly, this is likely the reason Zell's bid was accepted over more lucrative offers. The sellers likely wanted someone who was interested in building upon their successes rather than making a quick profit at the expense of building a long term franchise.
In today's world of quarter-to-quarter Wall Street psychosis, we are reminded by Zell's comments that kowtowing to Wall Street's mentality ultimately results in failure. Failure for the obvious reasons. One, a short term focus typically results in lack of long term strategy and long term investment. ie, Win the battle, lose the war; two, content in any business is a function of intellectual capital. I don't care whether that is an auto company, a newspaper, a real estate company or an oil company. While oft quoted as cliche yet seldom truly understood by CEOs, employees actually are the most important asset of any business. While there are many times extenuating circumstances or failed policies of prior leadership or aggressive bets on new business gone awry, the reality is job cuts are one of the most easily measured indicators of a CEO's failed policy. It's nice to see there are still brilliant leaders out there who inherently understand this.
Much of success in life is based on calculated risk taking and being in the right place at the right time. I have no doubt Sam Zell has other great qualities separating him from his competitors. Frankly, this is likely the reason Zell's bid was accepted over more lucrative offers. The sellers likely wanted someone who was interested in building upon their successes rather than making a quick profit at the expense of building a long term franchise.
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