Born: Sept. 28, 1941, in Chicago

Current job: Chairman and CEO of Tribune, since December 2007

Self-assigned nickname: Grave Dancer

Estimated worth: $6 billion

Family: Parents fled Poland to avoid persecution in 1939, arriving in Chicago via Russia and Japan

Education: BA in political science, University of Michigan, 1963; law degree, Michigan, 1966

First business: Founded a real estate company, Equity Group Investments, in 1968 after managing apartment buildings

Hobbies: Motorcycling with his "Zell's Angels" biker buddies; jetting to one of his four homes with his third wife, Helen

Number of #$%&-bombs dropped in first 10 minutes of talk with Los Angeles Times staff: 6

Extravagances: Private chef for midday meal; spending up to $1 million on his annual holiday gift, a custom-made music box and accompanying online video