More Information Contact:               (612) 678-7786
Charles Keller                          charles.r.keller@ampf.com

Stockholder Contact:                    (6120 218-3864
Chris Moran                             christopher.m.moran@ampf.com

             RiverSource Investments, LLC Completes its Acquisition
                     of J. & W. Seligman & Co. Incorporated
                        and Becomes Investment Manager of
                     Tri-Continental Corporation (NYSE: TY)

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, November 7, 2008 - Today,  Tri-Continental  Corporation (the
"Corporation")   (NYSE:   TY)  announced  that  RiverSource   Investments,   LLC
("RiverSource"),   a  subsidiary  of  Ameriprise  Financial,  Inc.  ("Ameriprise
Financial"),   has  completed  its  acquisition  of  J.  &  W.  Seligman  &  Co.
Incorporated,  the Corporation's  investment  manager prior to November 7, 2008.
With the  Acquisition  completed  and  stockholders  of the  Corporation  having
previously  approved  (at a  Special  Meeting  held on  October  7,  2008) a new
investment management services agreement between the Corporation and RiverSource
Investments,  RiverSource  Investments  is the  new  investment  manager  of the
Corporation effective November 7, 2008.

As a result of the Acquisition,  the Corporation's  portfolio managers have been
changed. The Corporation's new portfolio managers are:

Dimitris J. Bertsimas, Ph.D., Senior Portfolio Manager

o     Joined  RiverSource  Investments as a portfolio  manager and leader of the
      Disciplined Equity and Asset Allocation Team in 2002.
o     Co-founded  Dynamic Ideas,  LLC, a consulting firm that specialized in the
      development of quantitative tools for the asset management industry, where
      he served as Managing Partner, 1999 to 2002.  Currently,  Boeing Professor
      of  Operations  Research,  Sloan School of Management  and the  Operations
      Research Center, MIT.
o     Began investment  career as a consultant to asset managers in 1993; became
      portfolio manager in 2002.
o     MS and Ph.D., MIT.

Gina K. Mourtzinou, Ph.D., Portfolio Manager

o     Joined  RiverSource  Investments as a portfolio  manager and member of the
      Disciplined Equity and Asset Allocation Team in 2002.
o     Co-founded  Dynamic Ideas,  LLC, a consulting firm that specialized in the
      development of quantitative tools for the asset management industry, where
      she served as Vice President of Research and Analytics, 1999 to 2002.
o     Began investment  career as a consultant to asset managers in 1996; became
      portfolio manager in 2002.
o     Ph.D., MIT.



RiverSource Investments, 200 Ameriprise Financial Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
55474,  is also the investment  manager of the other funds in the Seligman Group
of Funds, and is a wholly-owned  subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial.  Ameriprise
Financial is a financial  planning and financial  services company that has been
offering  solutions  for clients'  asset  accumulation,  income  management  and
protection  needs for more than 110 years.  In addition to managing  investments
for the Seligman Group of Funds, RiverSource Investments manages investments for
the RiverSource  funds,  itself and its affiliates.  For institutional  clients,
RiverSource  Investments and its affiliates  provide  investment  management and
related services,  such as separate account asset management,  and institutional
trust and custody, as well as other investment products.

The  Corporation is one of the nation's  largest,  diversified,  publicly traded
closed-end equity investment companies and has paid dividends for 64 consecutive
years.  Effective  November 7, 2008,  the  Corporation is managed by RiverSource
Investments,  LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. Prior
to then,  the  Corporation  was managed by J. & W. Seligman & Co.  Incorporated.
Seligman  Advisors,  Inc. is the principal  underwriter  of the Seligman  mutual
funds.

The net asset value of shares may not always  correspond  to the market price of
such shares. Shares of many closed-end funds frequently trade at a discount from
their net asset value. The Corporation is subject to stock market risk, which is
the risk that stock prices  overall  will  decline  over short or long  periods,
adversely affecting the value of an investment in the Corporation.

You should consider the investment  objectives,  risks, charges, and expenses of
the Corporation carefully before investing.  A prospectus containing information
about the  Corporation  (including its investment  objectives,  risks,  charges,
expenses,  and other  information  about the  Corporation)  may be  obtained  by
contacting your financial  advisor or Seligman  Advisors,  Inc. at 800-221-2783.
The prospectus should be read carefully before investing in the Corporation.

There is no guarantee that the Corporation's investment goals/objectives will be
met, and you could lose money.