Media mogul John Malone steps aside from his empire after decades of shaping cable TV

Pioneering media mogul John Malone is stepping down as chairman of his holding companies, Liberty Media and Liberty Global, after shaping the cable television landscape for decades.

"Founding Liberty Media and serving as its Chairman has been among the most rewarding experiences of my professional life," Malone said in a statement Wednesday. "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, and 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 added.

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Pioneering cable TV mogul John Malone announced he will step aside as chairman of Liberty Media.  (Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)

Malone, who founded Liberty Media in 1991, will become chairman emeritus of his companies beginning next year.

The 84-year-old mogul has served on the boards of several media giants, including Warner Bros. Discovery, Charter Communications and Qurate Retail, the parent company of QVC.

A mentor to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Malone made headlines in 2021 for criticizing CNN ahead of the merger between WarnerMedia, which owned the network, and Discovery Inc., where Malone was a top board member.

"I would like to see CNN evolve back to the kind of journalism that it started with, and actually have journalists, which would be unique and refreshing," Malone said on CNBC at the time.

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Malone has been an outspoken critic of CNN while sitting as a Discovery board member ahead of the company's merger with WarnerMedia. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Malone, who describes himself as libertarian, continued criticizing CNN in September in his memoir "Born to Be Wired."

"CNN’s employees, largely left of center, express their opinions too much in their news," Malone wrote in his book.

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Malone said CNN employees were "largely left of center" who "express their opinions too much in their news." ( Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In an interview with The New York Times, Malone said Zaslav was "unable to have any meaningful impact" in reshaping CNN's political tone.

"They can’t help themselves," Malone told the paper. "And so what you’ve got is a left-leaning, anti-Trump news service." A CNN spokesperson rejected Malone's characterization in a statement to The Times.

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