Shortly after CNN CEO Chris Licht stepped down from his role in the news network, a New York supermarket billionaire stated his interest in buying CNN from its parent Warner Bros. Discovery.
“I’d go run the place tomorrow morning, and all I’d want is $1 per year and a piece of the upside,” Catsmatidis said.
Although the businessman steered clear from any details, including how much money he was willing to put up, the 74-year-old added, “It’s up to the investment bankers to come up with the numbers.”
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“We could always bring partners in, but I want to run the place,” he said. “We are capable of putting down a substantial amount of money.”
Catsmatidis, who is worth an estimated $4.1 billion, pointed to his WABC radio purchase shooting up to number one in Nielsen’s rated talk radio ratings (FYI — WABC took first place back in October 2021. They now sit at the number 11 spot since April).
“I want the truth, not opinions,” Catsimatidis emphasized. “If people say there’s two ‘truths,’ let’s voice both truths and let the viewers decide.”
When discussing Licht’s departure from CNN, the mogul believed that the former CEO was trying to do the right thing in rendering the network back to its founder’s vision.
“Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we had hoped — and ultimately that’s on me,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said while addressing CNN staffers during a morning editorial meeting on Wednesday.
In the political sphere, Catsimatidis ran for mayor against former Mayor DeBlasio for New York City back in 2013.
Could this businessman be CNN’s saving grace?
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