Zaz vs. Goliath

David Zaslav
David Zaslav, president and C.E.O. of Warner Bros. Discovery. For reasons that aren’t yet obvious, the WBD stock has been on a tear since the beginning of the year. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
William D. Cohan
January 8, 2023

Perhaps it’s the mirth and enthusiasm of a new year—to say nothing of the eternal January optimism of investment bankers—but I’ve been reading that some of our brightest minds expect the M&A environment to rebound in 2023. I have a different view. And, naturally, it involves the instructive lesson of Elon Musk and Twitter, and ends with the instructive lesson of Elon and Tesla.