, Columnist
Home Sweet Home for the Billionaire Cable Cowboy
John Malone has better prospects in the U.S. than Europe.
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Billionaire John Malone has the kind of record that makes it noteworthy when there's a misstep at one of the many cable and media companies in his orbit. But his European flagship Liberty Global Plc has indeed stumbled, exposing a widening gap between its prospects and those of Malone's U.S. cable business, Charter Communications Inc.
Liberty Global has scaled back its yearly growth target for operating free cash flow to 5 percent from 6-7 percent. Most of the blame lies at the door of Virgin Media in the U.K., Malone's prime European asset. The shares were punished, falling about 9 percent on Monday.