John Malone just swapped his super-voting Series B shares for stock that barely votes. Then he called it a win.
His voting power drops ,to approximately 3% from roughly 48%,. That's a 45-point haircut. Most men need a divorce for that.
Liberty Media did the buying. The Malone Holders owned ,about 2.3 million Series B shares, representing about 97% of the outstanding shares of that class,. Each share fetched ,0.26 shares of Series A common stock and 2.34 shares of Series C common stock,. That's 2.6 shares for every one. A buy-one-get-1.6-free deal, for a man who already owns a cable empire.
The reason? ,Unsolicited offers from third parties,. Someone cold-called Malone about his voting shares. He said yes, just to Liberty instead.
Malone's explanation: ,the deal lets him increase his economic ownership while distributing voting power more broadly,. Translation: more money, less homework.
He also steps down as chairman emeritus. ,He stays on as a senior adviser,. A senior adviser is a chairman with the parking spot but not the keys.
The stock ,rose 9%,. Retail traders will call this a catalyst. It's a filing with a ratio in it. Some of you bought FWONA at 9:31 because David Faber said "Series B" in a serious voice.
Liberty also adopted a rights plan, expiring November 2027. A poison pill. For a company that just ate its own founder's voting stock, that's a bold dessert.
Faber covered it with the gravity of a man announcing a war. It was a share exchange. Nobody died. Nobody even lost a parking spot.
Malone built an empire on control. He ended it with a ratio. At least the retail crowd knows how that feels: you also gave up your vote for a bigger number, and you got nothing.
Photo by Marcus Reubenstein on Unsplash
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