The departure of the turnaround expert who officials brought in just over two years ago wasn't a surprise: his exit comes in the wake of a New York hedge fund's consent solicitation that removed Freidheim and all but one other sitting Sun-Times director from the board.
The fund, Davidson Kempner, has been critical of Sun-Times' management and has been expected to seek Freidheim's ouster.
A successor wasn't named.
Freidheim joined Sun-Times in November 2006, succeeding an interim CEO who had been asked to lead the company after longtime CEO and controlling stockholder Conrad Black was thrown out. Black was subsequently convicted of felony fraud charges in connection with his mismanagement and outright looting of the Chicago company, which publishes the Chicago Sun-Times and other area papers.
Sun-Times also suffered from a costly circulation-overstatement scandal that surfaced after Black departed.
In a statement, Sun-Times said Freidheim "saw the comany through a number of crises and one of the worst print advertising markets in memory." Over the past two years, Sun-Times said, "the company has downsized dramatically, successfully outsourced a number of functions, consolidated plants and departments, and significantly improved financial reporting and controls."
But, the company added, "the accelerating decline in the industry print advertising market overwhelmed these corrective actions."
jpmiller@tribune.com
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