John
Malone

The 81-year-old Malone was a big supporter of Discovery’s merger with AT&T’s entertainment assets to create Warner Bros. Discovery, even though he owns less than 1% of the combined company, down from his 4% stake in Discovery. However, he does have a seat on the board, and his wishes appear to be coming true. Prior to the merger, the multibillionaire cable pioneer, who once sat on the board of libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, had said its CNN division needed to return to the type of journalism it used to practice. Post-merger, the cable news net has undergone major changes that many believe constitute a shift to the center, including the departures of several anchors reputed to be left-leaning. But Malone has insisted he wasn’t directly involved, although he does want the network to be “more centrist.”