Rahm Emanuel has deep financial ties to new Sun-Times owners

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

It's nice to have friends in the media.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel sure will have a ton of buddies in one key local media outlet, because virtually every one of the Sun-Times' new owners has been a major contributor, business partner or civic ally of his.

For instance, at least eight of the 12 board members of the new company, Wrapports LLC, have donated to Mr. Emanuel's campaign fund in the past year, collectively plunking down $241,000 that I found in a quick survey of Board of Elections disclosures.

Included: $25,000 from the Sun-Times' new chairman, Michael Ferro Jr., and $105,000 from Mr. Emanuel's frequent visitor at City Hall, Grosvenor Capital Management L.P. chief Michael Sacks.

Then there's the at least $20,000 that new S-T owners gave in recent months to New Chicago, the political action committee that Mr. Emanuel uses to help elect political allies. And the more considerable $350,000 that the owners and their companies collectively gave to Stand for Children, a Springfield lobbying group that helped pave the way for recent public school reform legislation that the mayor badly wanted.

There's more.

Mr. Sacks also serves as vice-chairman of World Business Chicago, the city's economic-development arm and the agency in charge of raising tens of millions of dollars Chicago will need to host next year's NATO/G8 summit here.

Also on the WBC board is private-equity mogul Bruce Rauner — who, as the Sun-Times once put it, "helped make Mayor Rahm Emanuel a millionaire" when he worked with Mr. Emanuel on a corporate acquisition during the brief period his honor was an investment banker.

Imagine that.