AT&T-Discovery Deal, Named ‘Columbus,’ Started With a Text

WarnerMedia executives were kept in the dark about the plan
Facing arms race in streaming, AT&T chose to bow out of media

WATCH: AT&T Inc. Chief Executive Officer John Stankey and Discovery Inc. CEO David Zaslav talk about plans to combine media assets to create a new entertainment company.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Scott Moritz and Liana Baker

May 17, 2021 at 9:27 PM UTC

Updated on

May 17, 2021 at 10:42 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The media industry’s biggest M&A deal in years started with a text message about golf.

Discovery Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav shot the note to AT&T Inc. CEO John Stankey during a weekend in February, bemoaning the fact that Covid-19 would keep them from meeting up at an annual golf tournament in Pebble Beach, California. That sparked a two-hour conversation that laid the groundwork for a tie-up between the two companies -- and the end of AT&T’s costly foray into the entertainment world.