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00:00Charter Communications fifty five billion dollar bid for Time Warner Cable does two things. First it establishes charter or new charter as the combined company will be called as the nation's second largest cable operator trailing market leader Comcast subscriber base by four million people. But the deal does something else. It puts media tycoon John Malone Charter's largest shareholder right back into the thick of things. John Malone is probably the most important person in media that most people have never heard of. Dubbed Darth Vader for his shadowy dealmaking prowess the Colorado billionaire has been at or near the center of almost every major media transaction for decades . Malone first rose to prominence as CEO of telecommunications International which was at one time the largest cable operator in the US TCI would ultimately be sold to AT & T. But Malone would go on to hold meaningful stakes in companies like NewsCorp Direct TV Discovery Communications stars on core Sirius XM live nation Lionsgate QVC Expedia TripAdvisor Barnes and Noble Virgin Media and Evite. In addition to media companies Malone also owns the Atlanta Braves and two point two million acres of land here in the U.S. making him the country's single largest private landowner. Recently Malone has been focusing on Europe building up one of his many companies Liberty Global into the world's largest cable operator. With this time Warner Cable deal he's returning to his home market and at the age of 74 you might think such a transaction would be the capstone to his career . But many people who have been watching Malone over the years know that he's probably just getting started .

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The Billionaire Behind Charter's Bid for Time Warner