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John Malone, 84, is stepping down as chair of his media, sports and telecom empire after 50 years of dealmaking, marking the end of an era in modern media. He will transition to chairman emeritus as of Jan. 1. Vice Chairman Robert R. (“Dob”) Bennett will assume the role of Chairman of the Board. “Founding Liberty Media and serving as its Chairman has been among the most rewarding experiences of my professional life,” Malone said in a statement. “With the successful simplification of our portfolio in recent years and our operating businesses in positions of strength, I believe it is an appropriate time to step back from certain of my obligations.” “I am very pleased to have Dob Bennett, my partner and colleague of 35 years, stepping into the Chairman role. Dob has been involved in all key decisions throughout Liberty Media’s history, and I am confident that Liberty is well-positioned for the future. I look forward to remaining actively engaged as a large Liberty shareholder and a strategic advisor to our management and Board,” he said. The news comes on the heels of a sprawling autobiography out last month that chronicled his rise, called 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. Known as the “cable cowboy” from early days at pioneering Tele-communications Inc., the largest cable operator in the U.S. at the time that he sold to AT&T acquired in 1999 for $48 billion. He founded Liberty Media in 1991, splitting and spinning off various tracking stocks and media assets over the year with savvy financial engineering that made investors a lot of money and built up a near legendary reputation on Wall Street. With the latest news, he’ll be exiting as chairman of Liberty Media, which owns Formula One Group, as well as UK telecom company Liberty Global, at year end. He will remain a Malone stepped down from the board of Warner Bros. Discovery. At a recent book event in NYC, Malone recalled one of his few losses, a bitter battle for Paramount waged, unsuccessfully, by himself and Barry Diller against Sumner Redstone. In recent times, Malone, a longtime shareholder of Discovery and mentor of David Zaslav, helped engineer that company’s $43 billion acquisition of WarnerMedia. That’s one investment that has proved rather unfruitful so far, although things appear to be looking up for WBD investors currently with company on the auction block and simultaneously preparing to separate its cable operations and studios/streaming into to companies. Malone stepped down from his seat on the board of Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this year, becoming chair emeritus. The billionaire entrepreneur resides in Maine and is one of the biggest private landowners in the U.S. with timberland, ranches and farms in the Midwest and Southwest.
