John Malone catapulted himself into the public eye with the 1998 sale of his cable company, TCI, to AT&T in a landmark $48 billion deal. TCI was Malone’s baby. A company that he took from the brink of bankruptcy on a wild ride through hardball tactics, brilliant financial maneuverings and strategic deal making. Malone is one of the great unsung heroes of our age. For more than 25 years, he has dominated the worlds of cable and media, shaping the consumer’s world of entertainment and communications, first with TCI and now with Liberty Media. His quicksilver mind, financial agility, public persuasion, and immovable conviction has literally defined what we call the digital age. But Malone has also symbolized a more ominous side of the media business. To his critics, consumer groups and politicians that include Al Gore, he borders on being a monopolist. An 800 pound gorilla who decided which cable networks lived and died, some view him as a Machiavellian bully who lived up to his many nicknames: Darth Vader, Genghis Khan, and the Godfather. This book is at once a fascinating tale that brings to life the competitive brawls and strategic maneuvering of one of the economy’s most influential industries, and truthful depiction of Malone’s complex persona. The author has worked closely with Malone over the past 4 years preparing the manuscript, which contains insights and experiences that are based on privileged information.
Book Details:
- Author: Mark Robichaux
- ISBN: 9780470232668
- Year Published: 2002
- Pages: 320
- BISAC: BUS070060, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS/Industries / Media & Communications
About the Book and Topic:
John Malone catapulted himself into the public eye with the 1998 sale of his cable company, TCI, to AT&T in a landmark $48 billion deal. TCI was Malone’s baby. A company that he took from the brink of bankruptcy on a wild ride through hardball tactics, brilliant financial maneuverings and strategic deal making. Malone is one of the great unsung heroes of our age. For more than 25 years, he has dominated the worlds of cable and media, shaping the consumer’s world of entertainment and communications, first with TCI and now with Liberty Media. His quicksilver mind, financial agility, public persuasion, and immovable conviction has literally defined what we call the digital age. But Malone has also symbolized a more ominous side of the media business. To his critics, consumer groups and politicians that include Al Gore, he borders on being a monopolist. An 800 pound gorilla who decided which cable networks lived and died, some view him as a Machiavellian bully who lived up to his many nicknames: Darth Vader, Genghis Khan, and the Godfather. This book is at once a fascinating tale that brings to life the competitive brawls and strategic maneuvering of one of the economy’s most influential industries, and truthful depiction of Malone’s complex persona. The author has worked closely with Malone over the past 4 years preparing the manuscript, which contains insights and experiences that are based on privileged information.
John Malone has emerged as the de facto cable baron of our time; a position that was epitomized in the AT&T purchase of Malone’s cable holding company, TCI. At the time, this deal was the largest media merger in history, and the precursor to the AOL/Time Warner $165 billion merger. TCI’s pot of gold was its ability to infiltrate customers at home in an extremely pervasive way: 13 million cable households and 90 million long distance dialing homes to be exact. How? Two words: cable modem. In this single act, AT&T and Malone defined digital offerings and delivery for generations of consumers to come. A maverick, a visionary, some would say, a hard case, Malone weaved together deals, large and small, adding more and more cable lines, stations and cable companies to his kingdom, and in the process created what we now know as the cable industry. John Malone is a mogul, a visionary, a cowboy in his industry, and one of the most powerful and influential businessmen in practice today.
BRINGS TO LIFE ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL AND MAVERICK BUSINESSMEN OF OUR DAY. Malone has single-handedly created the companies and made the deals that define our personal lives of entertainment, communications and digital information. His influence is pervasive and spans well beyond the companies he’s formed. FASCINATING PERSONALITY: John Malone has been credited as being a media visionary, one of the most brilliant dealmakers in history, and the Darth Vader of the Infobahn. FLY ON THE WALL COVERAGE: The book which was written in close cooperation with Malone includes insights and experiences based on previously undisclosed, privileged information. GETS INSIDE THE SHARK INFESTED WATERS OF TELECOM AND MEDIA: The book chronicles one of the largest media deals in history from its record setting price tag through its ultimate demise. HAS THE FULL AND COMPLETE SUPPORT OF JOHN MALONE. The author collaborated closely with Malone during the 4 year period in which this book was written.
About the Author
Mark Joseph Robichaux (New York, NY) writes on a range of topics for national magazines. From 1989 to 2001, he wrote features on various topics at the Wall Street Journal. In the most recent two years, he wrote award-winning stories on regional issues exclusively for Page One. Prior to that assignment, he covered cable television for six years and small business for three, in addition to writing articles for Page One. While on book leave in 1999, he was awarded a fellowship at the Media Studies Center in New York.