Jack Griffin, who exited as Chief Executive of Tribune Publishing in February, is landing as a senior adviser at the boutique investment banking firm of DeSilva+Phillips.
Griffin oversaw the separation of Tribune’s newspapers from its TV assets. At Tribune, he thought he had a white knight when he brought in Michael Ferro as non-executive chairman.
The original thinking was that the $44.4 million cash infusion from Ferro’s Merrick Media would be used for the buyout of the Orange Country Register.
But then Ferro staged an insurrection 19 days after joining and forced Griffin out of Tribune.
The Shakespearean drama took another turn a month later when the Justice Department stepped in to stop Tribune, already the owner of the LA Times, from buying the Register, on antitrust grounds.
Then Tribune itself became the target of a takeover bid by USA Today publisher Gannett.
Griffin previously had a short gig as CEO of Time Inc. Earlier in his career, he was president of the national media group at Meredith.
In between his two CEO gigs, he put together an investment group that bid unsuccessfully for the Boston Globe.