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Is Zaz Ready to Enter CNN Deal Mode?

As the Allen & Co. conference beckons, and CNN remains leaderless, bankers and executives are wondering if Zaz is ready to seriously consider selling the network in order to service WBD’s debt and excite the equity market (and probably avoid a headache or two). And, if not now, when?

A CNN sale could be a bonanza for Zaz and for WBD, his publicly traded leveraged buyout, which has some $45 billion of net debt.
A CNN sale could be a bonanza for Zaz and for WBD, his publicly traded leveraged buyout, which has some $45 billion of net debt. Photo: Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images
Dylan Byers
&
William D. Cohan
June 23, 2023

With less than three weeks until the annual Allen & Co. conference, the media mogul set is entering deal heat. All sorts of things get discussed at these gatherings, of course, and this year should be no different. Presumably there will be lots of whispering about the fates of Hulu, ESPN, and Paramount Global, a perennial favorite, as well as the next strategic steps for Bob Iger and Brian Roberts. But one of the most intriguing possibilities being discussed among the M&A crowd on Wall Street pertains to whether David Zaslav might be willing to unload CNN.