Media titan John Malone says he is not concerned with the trajectory of WarnerBros. Discovery (WBD), the conglomerate he helped form more than two years ago, amid its growing financial problems.
“They’re not going to run out of cash anytime soon. So they don’t have to do anything while they sit and watch this consolidation in the industry move forward,” Wall Street analyst Craig Moffett quoted Malone as saying in a recent research note, Deadline reported.
The mogul called WBD’s chief executive, David Zaslav, “the most energetic CEO, certainly more energetic than anybody I’ve ever met,” Moffett reported.
Zaslav is facing intensifying scrutiny from investors in WBD, which owns and operates major media brands including CNN, Turner Sports and MAX.
The company recently took a multi-billion dollar markdown on its linear television assets and saw its stock price fall to an all-time low earlier this summer.
CNN’s ratings have consistently ranked lower than those of rival networks Fox News and MSNBC this year, while WBD lost out on the latest round of rights to show NBA games, which went to streamer Amazon and legacy media rival Comcast.
Zaslav himself made almost $50 million in 2023 and was quoted this year saying WBD is hopeful the federal government will allow for more consolidation and better collaboration among media companies increasingly squeezed for audience share and advertising revenue.