Jeff Zucker Poised to Return to Media With Buyout of UK’s Telegraph Group
Jeff Zucker is close to taking over Britain’s Telegraph and Spectator in a $1.4 billlion deal that could see the right-wing publications expand into the U.S., The New York Times reported Friday.
The former CNN head, now the CEO of media investment firm RedBird IMI, is closing in on an agreement to buy the The Telegraph Group after it was put up for auction after Lloyd’s of London seized the company following the default on a loan by its current owners, the Barclay family.
Among the other bidders was a group led by fellow American Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel, one of the world’s largest hedge funds. The auction also drew interest from Rupert Murdoch and Lord Rothermere, owner of London’s Daily Mail.
The Telegraph once employed former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who used his columns to foment support for Brexit and is recognized for its support of Britain’s Conservatives, The Times noted, adding that The Spectator magazines is considered one of the country’s most prestigious media properties.
RedBird’s $1.4 billion bid, backed by a major Abu Dhabi-based investment fund, led to the auction being paused on Tuesday. The deal, which could still collapse, would mark the return of Zucker, 58, to the media business after his ouster from CNN in Feburary 2022. He led the news network, which has a significant overseas operation, for a decade but Zucker has never overseen a foreign media outlet, The Times reported.
Although the plans say Zucker would not be in control over day-to-day operations but rather The Telegraph’s business strategy and overseas presence, including expanding into the U.S., The Times reported, the famously hands-on executive “believes a market has emerged for a center-right news publication,” the Times said.
Last month, Zucker told The Financial Times he missed working at CNN when major news like the Israel-Gaza war broke out.
“If the right moment were there for me to do something again day in, day out like that, would I accept that? “ he told the publication. “Yes, sure. But if that doesn’t come along, that’s OK too. You can’t force things.”
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