Tribune's Major Creditors Owed Big Bucks

The Fort Lauderdale folks who got left out in the cold by Tribune banktruptcy got me thinking about the company's other creditors. So I looked it up. Some of this information has appeared in print and online, although I don't think in its complete form.

So here are Tribune's 30 largest creditors, as disclosed in Tribune's bankruptcy papers, in ascending order. Drum roll, please:

30. Paramount Pictures, $1.6 million
29. Nielsen Media Research, 1.8 m
28. Sony Pictures Television, 2.1 m
27. Tower PT, LLC (an equity investment company), 2.2 m
26. Tower DC, LLC, 2.3 m
25. Tower EH, LLC, 2.6 m
24. Horst Bergman (former executive owed retirement and deferred compensation), 2.6 m
23. Bowater Inc., 2.7 m
22. Raymond Jansen Jr. (former executive), 2.8 m
21. Tower MS, LLC, 2.8 m
20. Tower JK, LLC, 3.3 m
19. Abitibi Consolidated, 4.1 m
18. Robert Erburu (former executive), 4.3 million
17. NBC Universal Domestic TV Distribution, 4.9 m
16. SP Newsprint Co., 5.1 m
15. Buena Vista Entertainment (Disney), 6.2 m
14. Twentieth Television, 8 m
13. Mark Willes (former LA Times executive dubbed the "Cereal Killer"), 11.2 m
12. Warner Bros. Television, 23.7 m
11. Deutsche Bank National Trust (notes), 69.5m
10. Deutsche Bank (debentures), 82 m
9. Deutsche Bank (more debentures), 84.9 m
8. Deutsche Bank (more, more debentures), 98.7 m
7. Barclays Capital, 142.9 m
6. Deutsche Bank (more, more, more debentures), 148 m
5. Deutsche Bank (unsecured notes), 330 m
4. Deutsche Bank (more unsecured notes), 450 m
3. Deutsche Bank (subordinated debentures), 900 m
2. Merrill Lynch Capital (bridge loan), $1.6 billion

And the No. 1 creditor is .....

1. JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA ... $8.57 billion

Now we know why Wall Street is in such a funk, lending big chunks of money to companies (and individuals) that can't afford to pay their debt.

The off-duty cops and the city of Fort Lauderdale, with $800 owed (see earlier post), are so way down the list that they're invisible. But what happens at the local level matters.

Wouldn't you like to know what Central Florida companies are owed money by the Orlando Sentinel?