“I’d go run the place tomorrow morning, and all I’d want is $1 per year and a piece of the upside,” John Catsimatidis said.
New York supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis, the 702nd-wealthiest person in the world, has offered to buy CNN from its corporate parent Warner Bros. Discovery, claiming he could double its profits.
The 74-year-old announced his intention during a radio appearance on Thursday morning, and was later asked to comment on it by the New York Post.
“I’d go run the place tomorrow morning, and all I’d want is $1 per year and a piece of the upside,” he told the outlet.
But the Greek-born billionaire was not ready to share more details, including how much he would bid for it.
“It’s up to the investment bankers to come up with the numbers,” he said.
Born in Nisyros island to Greek parents, Catsimatidis migrated to the US while still a toddler.
He started off as a grocery store employee, but today he boasts a $4.1 billion net worth according to Forbes, with his business portfolio including real estate, an oil company and operating supermarket chains Gristedes and D’Agostino.
The announcement comes after Chris Licht’s resignation as CEO of CNN, following criticism he received for appearing to support a presidential town hall event hosted by the network with 2024 Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump in May.
The live event brought in more viewers than the network had seen in more than two years.
“Whoever is running that company is wrong.
“If the network is getting half-a-million [viewers] a night and they have Trump on and they get 3 million [viewers], to fire the CEO for getting that many people…” Catsimatidis said.
The 74-year-old has been described as an outspoken Trump supporter.
Source : Neos Kosmos
