bob erburuRobert Erburu, who led the expansion of Times-Mirror Co. from its Los Angeles market and drove its flagship Los Angeles Times to double its circulation to 1.1M, died May 11 at 83.

He joined TM in 1961 as legal advisor to then-chairman Norman Chandler and rose to president in 1974, CEO in 1980 and chairman in 1986 taking over Otis Chandler.

Under Erburu’s leadership, TM acquired the Denver Post, Long Island Newsday, Baltimore Sun, Dallas Times Herald, Popular Science, National Journal and TV stations.

Due to profit pressure at TM, Mark Willes, former vice chairman of General Mills, replaced Erburu in 1995. Tribune Co. acquired TMC in 1980 for $8M.

Erburu was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2006.

(Photo: CSPAN)