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Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch attend the quarter-final match of the 2018 U.S. Open at Arthur Ashe stadium on September 5, 2018 in Flushing Meadows, Queens.
William D. Cohan January 17, 2024
Bankers and analysts are getting worked up about new deal heat surrounding the usual suspects: Paramount, WBD, and Comcast. But an interesting idea is percolating on Wall Street regarding the fate of another couple entities: the remaining, winnowed Murdoch assets.
Skydance Media C.E.O. David Ellison attends the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton on January 7, 2024.
William D. Cohan January 14, 2024
News and notes on the stories percolating with the Dune Road crowd: David Ellison’s pursuit of National Amusements, Jamie’s boffo number, and Bill Ackman’s relentless crusade against KKR and Axel Springer.
First up for Comcast’s Brian Roberts in 2024 is the pending deal for the one-third stake in Hulu that Comcast owns, and that Bob Iger has said that Disney will buy.
William D. Cohan January 10, 2024
Analyzing the position and motivation of the media industry’s biggest dealmaker as the bankers begin to swarm.
If you thought Bill Ackman would be placated by the resignation of University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill, following the congressional hearing during which she and other academic leaders fumbled their answers about antisemitism on campus, then you haven’t been paying attention.
William D. Cohan January 7, 2024
News and notes on the trending Wall Street-media axis of interest: Ackman’s P.R. battle royale, Iger’s proxy wars, and Jimmy Pitaro’s latest mega-check.


Peter Orszag
William D. Cohan January 3, 2024
Peter Orszag, the new Lazard C.E.O., has an ambitious plan to double revenue by 2030. But can the former Obama aide transform an eccentric culture by emphasizing productivity, recalibrating fee structures, culling underperformers, and bringing in some rainmakers? He thinks so…
Is Shari Redstone’s dalliance with the M&A market a bust, or is anyone seriously capable of buying the Frankenstein’s monster that is Paramount Global?
William D. Cohan December 27, 2023
Zaz & Co. have hired Allen & Co. to dig into the Paramount financials. Is this thing for real for now? Imagining the twists and turns and ultimate denouement of the House of Sumner.
Shari Redstone, president of National Amusements, walks to a morning session at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 12, 2023 in Sun Valley, Idaho.
William D. Cohan December 20, 2023
David Ellison and Gerry Cardinale’s oh-so-clever plan to seize Paramount Global through NAI would also have to contend with a potential $11.2 billion landmine: the crushing debt that would immediately come due if Wall Street downgrades Paramount’s credit rating.
Bill Ackman was as critical of Harvard’s admissions policies when he was an undergraduate as he is today as a billionaire tweeter.
William D. Cohan December 17, 2023
Wall Street’s most voluble hedge fund macher is very publicly denouncing university presidents for their inability to police (and outright condemn) antisemitism on their campuses, while also supporting and investing in Elon Musk’s media company. Is this a contradiction, or just Ackman’s unique logic?


Sumner and Shari Redstone in 2012.
William D. Cohan December 13, 2023
An examination of the hidden complexities in Gerry Cardinale and David Ellison’s clever attempt to buy National Amusements from Shari Redstone—and, with it, the controlling stake in Paramount Global.
The Redstone family’s 10 percent economic stake in Paramount Global is now worth $1.1 billion.
William D. Cohan December 10, 2023
News and notes on the latest intrigues from the media investor swirl.
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