In business journalism, we often toss around words like "pirate" and "raider" to describe a hostile bidder, but Sam Zell's recent utterance of the "f-bomb" brings a new meaning to the term "corporate pirate."
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The real estate mogul turned media mogul has been known to use such salty language in business dealings with others, as noted in The Deal newsweekly story "The new kids on the block." However, the use of such language in public shocked the media world when Zell recently dropped the f-bomb after a verbal exchange with an Orlando Sentinel photographer, who allegedly turned her back on him while he was answering her questions, according to a Los Angeles Times story about the incident. (Zell bought both papers last year as part of his purchase of Tribune.) The flippant remark, said under his breath, was caught on video and posted to YouTube (available below) leading various blogs -- starting with Gawker -- and media columnists to seize on the event. One of the more interesting stories is the LA Times report, because it offers its new boss some advise on merger integration. - Matthew Wurtzel
