Billionaire media sage John Malone, who has built and presided over a number of influential companies in telecom, cable, sports and digital, will publish his memoir in September.
Simon & Schuster said Wednesday it will publish Born to be Wired: Lessons from a Lifetime Transforming Television, Wiring America for the Internet, and Growing Formula One, Discovery, Sirius XM, and the Atlanta Braves. The book, due to hit stores September 2, lets Malone tell the story of his key role in the growth of cable TV, the launch of high-speed internet and many other chapters in his decades in the industry.
Malone, who will turn 84 next month, is chairman of Liberty Media and a member of Warner Bros. Discovery’s board of directors.
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While he appears regularly at Liberty’s annual investor day and at occasional conferences, Malone maintains a fairly low public profile but his insights travel. With a doctorate in operations research from Johns Hopkins, “Dr. Malone,” as he is often called, fascinates those in the media business as few others with his acumen and strategic thinking. He is known for masterminding complex financial transactions aimed at minimizing tax and debt burdens for investors. The 2022 merger of Discovery and WarnerMedia via an obscure vehicle known as a Reverse Morris Trust was a signature Malone transaction.
Mark Robichaux, a journalist who wrote the 2002 book Cable Cowboy about Malone, is credited as an editor of the memoir.
Malone built Telecommunications Inc. into a top U.S. cable operator, crowning the run by engineering a $48 billion merger with AT&T. It was one of the biggest M&A deals in media at the time and remains a landmark in the pay-TV era.
In the book, Simon & Schuster said, Malone gives an insider account of launching some of cable’s first networks, including Discovery, QVC, TBS, and Black Entertainment Television. He also takes readers through the strategy behind the largest media mergers of our time, such as Warner Bros. Discovery, and the global concert firm Live Nation Entertainment, which combined with Ticketmaster. Malone also touches on his relationships with other media titans of the age, including Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner, Barry Diller, Reed Hastings and Mark Zuckerberg.
Along with his philanthropic endeavors, Malone is one of the largest landowners in America, controlling more than two million acres designated for sustainability and conservation.
“Over a lifetime of business deals, the most valuable currency has been relationships,” Malone said. “This book is about the people who changed my thinking, the hard-won lessons that nearly broke me, and strategies that helped me navigate chaos and carve my own path to success.”
Stephanie Frerich, VP and Executive Editor at Simon & Schuster, acquired world, audio, and first serial rights from Robert B. Barnett of Williams & Connolly.
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