Blame Stubborn Billionaires for the Media-Deal Stalemate

With so many billionaires pulling the strings in the media, pay-TV and wireless industries -- from John Malone and Charlie Ergen to Shari Redstone and Masayoshi Son -- it's no wonder the deals we were promised this year aren't getting done.

In the 11 months since AT&T Inc. announced its $109 billion takeover of Time Warner Inc., there have been plenty of rumors about the next merger mashups and who is talking to whom -- Verizon-Disney, Altice-Charter, Comcast-Sprint, etc. -- and still very little has happened. Everyone seems to want acquisitions like AT&T's to expand their power, but behind most of the remaining merger candidates are big shareholders that either prefer to retain control or are demanding too much money to give it up. This infographic demonstrates the conundrum: