Jeff Zucker: CNN ‘a fantastic asset’ that ‘we would look at’ in event of a sale 

Jeff Zucker, the former president of CNN who is now CEO of RedBird IMI, a joint venture investment vehicle, said he would consider a purchase of the network if it were to come up for sale.

“We’re certainly not looking at it, it’s not for sale, what we’ve always said is any asset of that stature … CNN is a fantastic asset,” Zucker said at Yahoo Finance Invest  on Tuesday. “Anything that came to market we would obviously look at.”

The media boss reiterated a purchase of CNN “is not something we’re actively thinking about,” saying “as far as we know, it’s not for sale.”

“Some day if it were available, like any other great asset, we would look at it,” he said. “That’s not to say yes or no, it’s just to say it’s a great asset and if the time came, we would look at it.”

Zucker had been questioned about a report in Variety this summer suggesting he and a group of investors had mounted an effort to purchase the cable news giant from media conglomerate WarnerBros. Discovery.

He has repeatedly denied the Variety report and WarnerBros. Discovery has not given any public indication CNN is for sale.

WarnerBros. Discovery purchased CNN in 2022, and Zucker was forced out of his position shortly after the sale following revelations he was engaged in a romantic relationship with a female executive at the network he did not disclose.

News Producer Chris Licht took over for Zucker and lasted a little over a year as CEO at CNN before being fired following a string of internal controversies and negative publicity.

Zucker, RedBird Capital Partners, and International Media Investments announced late last year that they had partnered to create RedBird IMI, a joint venture investment vehicle focused on acquiring and investing in large scale media, entertainment and sports content properties.

The venture launched launched late last year with initial committed capital of $1 billion.

Updated: 5:40 p.m.