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https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/john-malone-land-map/
February 19, 2022
John Malone told CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/18/john-malone-says-warnermedia-discovery-getting-rid-of-cnn-would-be-the-cowards-way-out.html... John Malone?
“I would like to see CNN evolve back to the kind of journalism that it started with, and actually have journalists, which would be unique and refreshing,” the media billionaire Malone told CNBC (11/18/21) in November.
“I do believe good journalism could have a role in the future portfolio that Discovery/TimeWarner’s going to represent,” he went on.
In the interview with CNBC‘s David Faber, Malone also said:
Fox News, in my opinion, has followed an interesting trajectory of trying to have news news, I mean some actual journalism, embedded in a program schedule of all opinions.
Brian Flood of right-wing Fox News (11/19/21) said of Malone’s CNBC declaration:
Liberty Media chairman John Malone, who sits on the Discovery, Inc. board of directors, wants to see left-wing CNN revert back to nonpartisan journalism following the completion of a merger that would put the liberal network under the Discovery channel.
More than a board member
Malone, in fact, is more than a Discovery board member; he’s its chair and largest shareholder. CNN, started by Ted Turner and now owned by AT&T, is part of an $85 billion acquisition by Discovery, expected to be finalized this year.
Malone’s links to politics include being an active supporter—he’s currently a board member—of the Cato Institute, the Washington-based libertarian think tank that espouses the privatization of numerous US government agencies and programs, including Social Security and the Postal Service.
His Liberty Media empire was among the big contributors to Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration festivities in Washington, DC, with personal and corporate contributions adding up to $1 million.
However, in 2019, in another interview with Faber on CNBC (11/21/19), Malone said:
Look, I think a lot of things Trump has tried to do—identifying problems and trying to solve them—has been great…. I just don’t think he’s the right guy to do it. Half the people that he’s hired and thrown under the bus are now trying to kill him. I mean, what kind of thing is that?
Malone then said he would vote for former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for president in 2020.
No ‘coward’s way out’
Newsmax
Brian Freeman of right-wing Newsmax (11/21/21) said:
CNN will be the key news property in the merged company, one that will be dominated by entertainment programming. There had been rumors that CNN might be spun off or sold, but Malone indicated [in the CNBC interview] that’s not likely.
Malone, Freeman said, described such a move as a “coward’s way out.”
Freeman asserted that “Malone has cause to worry about the left-wing network,” because
CNN’s ratings have collapsed over 50% in the past year and may be suffering from a credibility gap with viewers…. Last March, a Hill/HarrisX poll found that 47% of registered voters believe CNN holds a liberal bias in reporting.
(In the same poll, 48% of respondents said they believed Fox had a conservative bias—but who’s counting?)
Steve Straub of the right-wing website the Federalist Papers (11/22/21) said of Malone’s CNBC comments:
CNN’s soon-to-be new owner just made a startling admission, one that has been obviously apparent to us and many others for some time, that the so-called news network has no actual journalists.
‘The most powerful man you’ve never heard of’
Gentleman’s Journal called Malone “one of the most powerful, yet unknown, individuals in America.”
“John Malone… Meet the Most Powerful Man That You’ve Never Heard Of,” was a heading of a 2018 piece on the website of the British-based Gentleman’s Journal. Malone owns
services and TV channels you’ve most likely used or watched…yet the name John Malone still draws a sea of blank faces…. One of the most powerful, yet unknown, individuals in America…as Liberty Media’s chairman and largest stakeholder, John Malone is one of the world’s most influential media magnates.
In addition to being part-owner of the Atlanta Braves, the website noted,
he currently owns more land in America than anyone else: 2.2 million acresto be precise…. Malone has a net worth of around $9.22 billion, and thanks to his buccaneering role in media deals and land ownership, he’s been nicknamed the “Cable Cowboy.”
The article related how Malone, born in Connecticut, has a Ph.D. in operations research from Johns Hopkins University, and
joined the worldwide management consulting firm McKinsey & Company in 1968. However, fatigued from the constant traveling his job required, he left after five years to join General Instrument; while at GI, he ran Jerrold—a subsidiary which produces minicomputers for the cable TV industry—and was eventually offered the role of CEO of Tele-Communications, Inc… [which] only had 400,000 subscribers and owed creditors $132 million…. Malone was only 29 at the time.
Within 17 years of snapping up smaller operators and acquiring minority stakes in other channels,TCI, under the management of Malone, had accumulated 8.5 million subscribers and grew into the second largest cable company after Time Warner. Because of his business deals in the byzantine world of cable TV, Malone was compared to “Darth Vader” by former US Vice President Al Gore….
At the helm of Liberty Media, the young American changed the organization from just providing cable services to actually owning the networks broadcast on its infrastructure, including the Discovery Channel, QVC and Virgin Media.
‘CNN could face a reset’
Variety (2/8/22) says former CNN president Jeff Zucker (left) “pushed CNN to be blunt and unstinting in its efforts to hold feet to the fire,” while Discovery‘s David Zaslav (right) is “behind the scenes a relentless operator.”
The headline last week in Variety (2/8/22): “CNN Could Face a Reset Under Discovery Control.” The article by Brian Steinberg spoke of how under its recently resigned president, Jeff Zucker, “CNN became more swashbuckling, more colorful…”
But Discovery is “a media company that tries to maintain a quieter corporate demeanor.” Zucker
changed the culture of the news outlet, shoving it into more direct competition with Fox News Channel and MSNBC…. Will Discovery change the recipe? There are signs that executives at the company see Zucker’s departure as an opportunity for a reset at CNN.
The piece spoke of those who “argue Zucker’s strategies have been good for CNN—and for people who have been helped by its aggressive accountability journalism in Washington.” The article concluded:
Executives charged with leading CNN in the wake of Zucker’s exit have vowed to staffers in internal meetings that his vision for the network will remain intact, but chances are Discovery will dim Zucker’s flash.
That would not be good news.
The future of democracy in the United States is at stake amid the polarization and deadlock of the political process in Washington. Media are increasingly under the control of right-wing zealots like Rupert Murdoch and those behind Newsmax, etc., who are poisoning communications.
Critically needed now is an independent, honest, credible press providing, yes, aggressive accountability journalism—a light to enable people to find their way out of this mess. Instead, the nation’s oldest cable news channel will soon be under the control of someone who appears to want it to follow the “interesting trajectory” of Fox News.
120 an
no lnx
Trump’s big money inaugural donors are fleeing the president — and donating to Democrats: report
Written by Tom Boggioni / Raw Story January 13, 2020
According to a report in the Daily Beast, major donors who contributed to Donald Trump’s inauguration not only want no part of the president now, but are also contributing to possible Democratic presidential contenders.
The report starts off by noting, “15 such donors who collectively gave more than $700,000 to Trump’s inaugural committee but who have since contributed to the presidential campaigns of Democratic candidates including Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Michael Bennet, John Hickenlooper, Eric Swalwell, and John Delaney.”
While many wealthy political campaign contributors are known to give money to both Democrats and Republicans as a way of hedging their bets and keeping the door open for access, many of the Trump donors are rock-ribbed Republicans who have tired of the president.
According to Pritzker, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, her change of heart stemmed from the administration’s stance on trans rights.
“I’ve grown frustrated as I watch this Republican administration push to ban transgender military service. Anti-transgender platforms are causing me to evaluate my party support,” Pritzker wrote in a Washington Post op-ed. “I have hoped the Republican Party would reform from within and end its assault on the LGBTQ community. Yet, the party continues to champion policies that marginalize me out of existence, define me as an eccentric character and persecute me for using the public restrooms that correspond to my gender identity.”
The report notes that Pritzker has previously not only contributed to Trump , but also to Republicans Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and John Kasich.
“It had only been a couple years since [Jennifer] Pritzker, the world’s only known trans billionaire and a Republican mega-donor, had chipped in a whopping $250,000 to President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee,” the report states. “But three months after publicly objecting to the GOP’s stance on trans issues, she gave $1,000 to Democrat Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign.”
“Chrysa Tsakopoulos Demos, the chief executive of California land development company AKT Investments, is a longtime Republican donor who backed Sen. Ted Cruz’s bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. She donated $5,000 to the Trump inaugural, and continued donating to Republicans through 2018, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and Great America Committee, Vice President Mike Pence’s political group,” the G Beast report, before adding, “But Demos’ only federal political contribution so far in the 2020 cycle is the $2,800 she donated last year to Biden’s presidential campaign.”
The report states that Greg Maffei, the chief executive of the Colorado-based media company Liberty Media, was a “$250,000 donor to the Trump inaugural who is backing Democrats in 2020.”
“This time around, though, Maffei has supported the two Democratic presidential candidates from his home state. In March 2019, he gave the per-election maximum of $2,800 to Hickenlooper, the former Colorado governor,” the Beast reports. “Two months later, after a max-out donation to Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, Maffei donated $100,000 to a super PAC supporting Hickenlooper. After Hickenlooper withdrew from the race, Maffei donated the legal maximum to Bennet’s presidential campaign.”
You can read about more high dollar contributors bailing on Trump here.
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maffai highly paid ceo
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http://inewsnetwork.org/2014/11/04/power-players-colorados-top-political-donors/
Number 4: Joe Ricketts, $618,500
Occupation: Former CEO and Chairman of TD Ameritrade, an online investment firm headquartered in Omaha, Neb.
Residence: Little Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Joe Ricketts does not currently live in Colorado. However, his personal holdings company, Hugo Enterprises, is headquartered in Denver. He listed this address when reporting more than $600,000 of donations in 2011 and 2012, launching him to a top spot among Colorado’s Power Players.
Joe Ricketts
Joe Ricketts
2014 contributions: No contributions made from Colorado this year.
Overall contributions: In 2011 and 2012, none of the $600,000 in donations he listed as originating in Colorado went to a Colorado candidate. He donated $2,500 each to five of the 2012 Republican presidential candidates, including Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman and another $2,500 to Gary Johnson, a Libertarian presidential hopeful and former governor of New Mexico.
Did you know: Joe Ricketts is listed as one of the Forbes Top 400 richest people in the United States. He is a conservative donor and founder of conservative “Ending Spending Super PAC,” though one of his daughters, Laura Ricketts, is a Democrat and operates her own liberal-leaning super PAC. Together, the family owns the Chicago Cubs.
Number 5: Larry Mizel, $613,800
Occupation: Chairman and CEO of M.D.C. Holdings, Inc., a homebuilding and financial services business.
Residence: Denver, Colo.
Larry Mizel
Larry Mizel
2014 contributions: This year, Mizel donated $100,000 to a Super PAC focused on the reelection of GOP U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. He also contributed $1,000 directly to Sen. Graham. His next largest contributions included two donations of $32,400 to the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Republican National Committee.
Overall contributions: Since 2011, Mizel has been particularly active in high-profile Republican campaigns, supporting such candidates as Speaker of the House John Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, U.S. Rep. and former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann and 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Did you know: Businessweek estimates that Mizel’s total compensation from M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. in 2013 topped $12 million.
Number 6: Ben Walton, $500,000
Occupation: Philanthropist and Board member of the Walton Family Foundation, the philanthropic organization of the founders of Wal-Mart.
Residence: Denver, Colo.
Ben Walton
Ben Walton
2014 contributions: None.
Overall contributions: Walton was one of the top donors to Colorado Commits to Kids with a $500,000 donation. The group organized in favor of Amendment 66, a measure which would have changed the state's tax structure to fund K-12 education.
Did you know: Walton is the only donor in the top ten list with a single large donation.
Number 7: Gregory B. Maffei, $482,899
Occupation: President and CEO of Liberty Media Corporation, which owns the Atlanta Braves and holds stakes in major media companies, such as SiriusXM and Barnes & Noble.
Residence: Englewood, Colo.
Gregory B. Maffei
Gregory B. Maffei
2014 contributions: This year he spent $148,999, with donations to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Republican candidates for senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, John McCain, Arizona, and Mike Rounds, South Dakota. The largest donation was $100,000 to conservative Arizona Grassroots Action PAC, based in Alexandria, Va.
Overall contributions: Maffei has largely donated to Republican candidates and causes, spending $482,899 since 2011. In past campaigns, he has backed national Republican leaders and their PACs, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. In 2012 he contributed to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, with $2,500 to the candidate directly and $150,000 to the pro-Romney PACs Restore our Future and American Crossroads.
Did you know: In 2011 Maffei donated $1,100 to Gov. John Hickenlooper, but has not donated to the governor since.
Number 8: Merle Chambers, $430,260
Occupation: Former oil and gas executive turned philanthropist. Founder of the Chambers Family Fund, which focuses on women and family issues.
Residence: Denver, Colo.
Merle Chambers
Merle Chambers
2014 contributions: This year Chambers has contributed $5,650. For the second year in a row she has maxed out her contribution limit of $2,600 on Colorado Sen. Mark Udall's campaign. Chambers has also backed Joseph Neguse for Colorado secretary of state.
Overall contributions: Chambers has largely contributed to Democratic causes and candidates. Last year she contributed $25,000 to a gun control group, Americans for Responsible Solutions, and in 2012 she sent $200,000 to liberal super PAC Fair Share Action. Last year Chambers also maxed out her contribution to Democratic congressional candidate Andrew Romanoff by spending $2,600 on his campaign.
Did you know: Many of Chambers’ contributions focus on Democratic female leadership across the United States, including Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.
Number 9: John C. Malone, $415,000
Occupation: Chairman of Liberty Media Corporation, Chairman and CEO of Steele Street Bank & Trust.
Residence: Elizabeth, Colo.
John C. Malone
John C. Malone
2014 contributions: This year Malone contributed $25,200 so far, with $5,200 going to Sen. John McCain , $10,000 to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and $10,000 to the Republican Party of Maine.
Overall contributions: Republicans, including Boehner and Romney, have benefited the most from Malone’s contributions. In Colorado elections, last year Malone backed Senate candidate Cory Gardner with $5,000, GOP Rep. Mike Coffman with $5,200 to and candidate for attorney general, Cynthia Coffman, with $1,100.
Did you know: A large chunk of Malone’s contributions have gone to Maine. Last year he contributed $5,200 to Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins. In 2012 he donated $90,000 to the Republican Party of Maine and $100,000 to Maine Freedom PAC.
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Colorado bundlers for John McCain
Amount raised: $500,000 +
Gregory C. Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media. Prior to his work at Liberty Media, Maffei served as president and CFO of Oracle, chairman and CEO of 360networks Corporation, senior vice president and CFO ofMicrosoft Corporation, and chairman of Expedia. Maffei has an MBA from Harvard Business School. He also serves as a director for Electronic Arts and Zillow.com.
Amount raised: $250,000 – $500,000
Robert C. Hawk, Private businessman/investor. Has given to Republican candidates and national committees for many years. One-time president of Hawk Communications, a national Internet service provider based in Atlanta, Hawk previously was president and CEO of US West Multimedia Communications, Inc. From 1988 until 1996 where he served as president of US West’s carrier division. Before that, he served as vice president of marketing and strategic planning for CXC Corporation, and as director of advanced systems development for AT&T/American Bell.
Amount raised: $100,000 – $250,000
Michael T. Fries, UnitedGlobalCom, Inc.’s President since 1998 and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Global, the world’s leading cable TV provider since 2004. He was a member of former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens’ Commission on Science & Technology, as well as the Young President’s Organization (YPO) and active in several local charitable foundations.
Mary Smith, Chair of the Denver County Republicans and a GOP fundraiser. In addition to bundling for McCain, Smith also was a bundler for the Rudy Guiliani presidential campaign in 2008.
Amount raised: $50,000 – $100,000
Charlie Ergen, EchoStar CEO and now involved with DISH Network. He is the 87th richest person in the world according to Forbes 2008 list with a $9.5 billion fortune. Ergen seems to pad the pockets of both parties. He has donated $28,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in $28,500 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, $10,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Richard “Dick” Notebaert, former CEO of Qwest Communications. Mr. Notebaert is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Aon Corporation and Cardinal Health, Inc. and serves as Chairman of the Board, and Trustee, of the University of Notre Dame. In 2003, President George Bush appointed Notebaert as a member of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), which provided the administration with industry recommendations on policy.
Larry Mizel, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of MDC Holdings, a real estate developer that is the parent company of Richmond American Homes. Between 1989 and 2006, Mizel and his wife contributed about one million dollars to federal candidates, PACs, and political parties; 94% went to Republican candidates and party committees. He is also a major funder behind the Anti-terrorism museum in Denver.
Solomon Trujillo, former CEO of US West when the company merged into Qwest Communications in 2000. He is now the CEO for Telstra Corp., Australia’s largest telephone company. A major bundler for President Bush in 2000 and 2004, Trujillo was appointed to Bush’s Commerce Department transition team in 2000 and later appointed him to the President’s Export Council.
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Liberty Capital
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Biographical Information
"Mr. John C. Malone is Chairman of Liberty Media Corporation, a position he has held since 1990. Mr. Malone is also the Chairman of the Board of Liberty Global, Inc. (LGI), a position he has held since June, 2005. From 1996 to March, 1999 when Tele-Communications, Inc., (TCI) merged with AT&T Corp., he was also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TCI. Previous to that, from 1973 to 1996, Mr. Malone served as President and CEO of TCI. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for CATO Institute, Expedia, Inc., Discovery Communications, Inc., and SiriusXM. Additionally, Mr. Malone is Chairman Emeritus of the Board for Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. as well as Director or similar capacity for various family businesses, Trusts or Foundations...
"He served as Director of the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) from 1974 to 1977 and again from 1980 to 1993. During the 1977-1978 term, Mr. Malone was the NCTA's Treasurer.
"In 1983, Mr. Malone received the NCTA Vanguard Award, one of the highest honors in the cable television industry. He has received many other awards and honors which include: TVC Magazine Man of the Year Award - 1981; Wall Street Transcript's Gold Award for the cable industry's best Chief Executive Officer - 1982, 1985, 1986 and 1987; Wall Street Transcript's Silver Award in 1984 and 1989; Women In Cable's Betsy Magness Fellowship Honoree; University of Pennsylvania Wharton School Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Center Award of Merit for Distinguished Entrepreneurship; American Jewish Committee Sherrill C. Corwin Human Relations Award; Denver University Honorary Degree for Doctorate of Human Letters - 1992; Communications Technology Magazine Service and Technology Award; Bronze Award - 1993 Financial World CEO of the Year Competition; and 1994 Hopkins Distinguished Alumnus Award." [1]
Resources and articles
Related Sourcewatch
References
The 2000s
Liberty Media's Discovery Channel, News Corporation and QVC continued to do well, but the company's newer projects had problems, and the company's stock price dropped by half. Malone no longer had the "Malone halo" he once did. If AT&T agreed to spin off Liberty Media, new deals such as a possible News Corp. purchase of DirecTV would be easier because AT&T would no longer require federal approval to complete such deals.[16]
Liberty Media was spun off from AT&T on August 10, 2001.[17] This was one of three possible actions to ensure federal approval of AT&T's $54 billion acquisition of MediaOne Group – the others were selling its 25.5 percent share of Time Warner Entertainment and dropping 11.8 million cable customers.[18]
Also in 2001, Liberty Media acquired the remainder of Liberty Digital and Liberty Satellite & Technology (formerly TCI Satellite). Both companies were independent spinoffs of TCI, though Liberty already owned ninety percent of both companies after the exchange for Sprint PCS stock. Being independent increased their asset values, but the stock prices of both dropped, negating any benefits.[19][20]
Liberty Media subsequently spent $5 billion on nine :{:{German:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}::(style="color:#000000"):}: regional cable networks. Apart from television distribution it holds major interests in other groups. For example, it was the largest shareholder in News Corporation (though the founding :{:{Murdoch family:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}::(style="color:#000000"):}: owns more :{:{voting shares:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}::(style="color:#000000"):}:), and had a four percent stake in Time Warner. As of December 2003, it had never paid a dividend.[citation needed]
In June 2005, Liberty Media International combined with UnitedGlobalCom, creating Liberty Global.
In May 2006, Time Warner acquired Liberty Media's fifty percent stake in Court TV for $735 million.[21]
On May 16, 2006, IDT sold its IDT Entertainment division to Liberty Media "for all of Liberty Media's interests in IDT, $186 million in cash and the assumption of existing indebtedness". IDT Entertainment's assets and Starz Entertainment Group's line of premium television channels will combine to produce content for all distribution platforms.[22]
Liberty negotiated an asset swap with News Corp. and Time Warner that would give it control of DirecTV and the Atlanta Braves baseball team.[23] On February 12, 2007, the deal was completed with Time Warner wherein Liberty would receive the Atlanta Braves, a group of craft magazines and $1 billion in cash in exchange for 60 million shares of Time Warner stock (valued at $1.27 billion as of market close on February 12, 2007).[24] The deal was approved by Major League Baseball and then completed on May 16, 2007.[25] On February 20, 2008, the Federal Communications Commission approved the exchange of 16.3 percent of News Corp. for 38.4 percent of DirecTV, an $11 billion deal that also gave Liberty sports networks in Denver, Pittsburgh and Seattle plus $550 million in cash.[26]
In April 2007, Liberty completed a purchase of Green Bay, Wisconsin, television station WFRV-TV, and satellite station WJMN-TV in Escanaba, Michigan, which serves the Marquette, Michigan, market. The deal was part of a swap of 7.59 million shares of common stock in CBS, the stations' owner, that was held by Liberty Media; in exchange for the stock, CBS gave liberty the stations and $170 million in cash.[27] Liberty announced plans in April 2011 to sell WFRV and WJMN to Nexstar Broadcasting Group for $20 million;[28] the stations were the only over-the-air broadcast properties in Liberty's portfolio.[citation needed]
On February 17, 2009, Liberty announced that it would invest up to $530 million into the struggling Sirius XM Radio Inc., in a structured deal that would help the satellite radio provider avoid filing bankruptcy protection by meeting its obligations. The deal also provided for two board seats for Liberty Media, and provided cash for operations and development, with a maturity date of December 2012 for the loan.[29] On March 6, the two companies approved the second part of the deal, with Sirius XM getting $250 million immediately and Liberty receiving 12.5 million shares of preferred stock convertible into a forty percent ownership of Sirius XM common stock.[30]
The 2010s
On the Fortune 500 list 2011, Liberty Media was ranked 224, moving up from 2010 when they were ranked 227.[31]
In June 2011, Liberty announced it was in talks to buy a seventy percent stake in the Barnes & Noble bookstore chain, although in August, sources told the Financial Times it was losing interest in such a transaction.[citation needed] Liberty eventually purchased a sixteen percent stake in the form of preferred stock in Barnes & Noble for $204 million.[citation needed]
On August 8, 2012, Liberty Media announced that they will spin-off Starz into a separate publicly traded company.[32] The spin-off was completed on January 15, 2013 and the new company is known as Starz Inc.[33]