Soo Kim, founder of hedge fund Standard General, has been in talks over potentially buying or investing in Warner Bros. Discovery’s television networks, the Financial Times reported, citing people briefed on the matter.
Kim has been approached by at least one major Warner Bros. shareholder to acquire all or part of the media conglomerate’s cable TV assets, including CNN.
The shareholder who approached Kim could not be immediately identified, the report noted.
Warner Bros. has received competing offers from Netflix and Paramount Skydance, each. WBD’s board told its shareholders to reject Paramount’s hostile bid, and maintained that Netflix’s offer is superior.
Netflix’s bid is for Warner Bros.’ studio and streaming business, while Paramount wants to buy all of WBD, including CNN.
President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticised CNN’s programming, last week said it was “imperative that CNN be sold” and called for new leadership at the network.
Paramount CEO David Ellison offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if his takeover bid for WBD is successful, he’d make sweeping changes to CNN, The Wall Street Journal reported recently.