The president and chief executive officer of Tribune Broadcasting has left the company. Chicagoland Radio and Media reports that Nils Larsen ended his roles not only with Tribune Broadcasting but also with the Tribune Company as a whole. He was executive VP and chief investment officer for Tribune Company.

“Larsen’s exit was confirmed to CRM by a spokesperson for Tribune Company today, but no official statement will be made on the exit,” the story reports. “Larsen is a longtime business associate and friend of former Tribune Chairman/owner Sam Zell. It was ‘financial whiz kid’ Nils Larsen, along with Randy Michaels, who had helped Zell gain a huge profit on his investments in Ohio radio company Jacor Communications in 1999.”

Larsen has been with Tribune since December 2008, and has overseen Tribune Company’s business development for Zell.

“In December 2009, Larsen was made the Chief Investment Officer for Tribune Company. After controversial Tribune Company CEO Randy Michaels was forced out in October 2010, Larsen was one of four executives named to run the company, adding the title of Tribune Broadcasting Chairman,” the story reports. “In May 2011, Nils Larsen was named as the President and CEO of Tribune Broadcasting Company, despite never having worked a single day in his life in any broadcasting field.”

The piece adds: “Most in the industry knew that Larsen was never put in the Tribune Broadcasting role to advance the company’s broadcasting division, but rather to have him watch carefully over the finances of the division while it struggled to exit bankruptcy for years. Tribune Company finally exited bankruptcy on December 31st.”