John Malone On The Warner Discovery Sale and Media's Future

Nov 17, 2025

John Malone, a media titan and billionaire investor known for his role in cable and media consolidation, shares insights on the Warner Bros. Discovery sale. He discusses the necessity of consolidation to compete globally and the impact of big tech on the streaming landscape. Malone dives into the future of cable companies, the challenges facing CNN, and the growth potential of Formula One. He also reflects on media's role in polarization and the importance of defending American innovation while sharing personal anecdotes about his life and mentors.

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INSIGHT

Scale Is Streaming's Currency

Warner and Discovery merged to gain global scale for streaming competition with big tech.
The company planned a subsequent split to let sports-driven linear and studio streaming businesses follow different strategies.

ADVICE

Delay Splits When Buyers Emerge

Thoroughly explore acquisition interest before completing a planned separation of businesses.
Pause a breakup if credible suitors surface so you can evaluate superior proposals.

INSIGHT

Net Neutrality Reshaped Media Economics

Net neutrality shifted distribution economics by preventing ISPs from charging content providers.
That rule accelerated streaming's advantage and shifted advertising and sports rights toward big tech.

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John Malone is one of the most important architects and builders of contemporary media.He went from Phi Beta Kappa at Yale to a Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins and then jobs at Bell Labs, McKinsey, and Jerrold Electronics before being recruited by Bob Magness to come west to Colorado and grow the cable industry.As CEO of Tele-Communications Inc. and Liberty Media, he played a major role in putting together a series of cable companies and wiring the nation for the internet revolution.He supported Ted Turner at CNN, Rupert Murdoch at Fox, and Barry Diller at IAC. Each has described John Malone as the smartest strategic person they know for his understanding of the impact of technology and finance.He sold TCI to AT&T for $48 billion in 1999.In 2022, he was instrumental in the merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery, combining a movie studio, HBO, CNN, and cable companies.He also created Liberty Global, a major broadband provider in the world, and acquired Formula One, SiriusXM, Live Nation, and the Atlanta Braves.He tells the story of how he did it and the people who helped in his memoir — Born To Be Wired: Lessons From a Lifetime Transforming Television, Wiring America for the Internet, and Growing Formula One, Discovery, SiriusXM, and the Atlanta Braves. It was written with Mark Robichaux, who wrote his 2002 biography Cable Cowboy.It is a fascinating moment, as the lead story on the front page of The Wall Street Journal today is an announcement by the Board of Warner Bros. Discovery that it is for sale.The announcement follows a bid by Paramount, recently purchased by David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle and the second-richest person in the world.We will talk about many things — especially his memoir, Born To Be Wired — the role he played and the people who helped him, the announcement by Warner Bros. Discovery, the media in transition, the consequence of streaming, the impact of tech companies, the future of artificial intelligence, the news today, and America today as it nears its 250th birthday on July 4, 2026.There is no one better to ask about all this than John Malone, the author of Born Wired and the largest stockholder of Warner Bros. Discovery. He is the former Chairman of the Board and now Chairman Emeritus.