Jeff Zucker Meets With Jeff Bezos As Part Of A Possible Media Comeback
In Zucker’s latest business venture, the investment vehicle Redbird IMI, he has reportedly told confidants he is interested in building a company that owns several digital publications targeted at specific audiences – not too dissimilar to how Rupert Murdock owns several outlets targeting conservative readers and viewers.
According to the New York Times, he has held talks with owners of digital-media start-ups, but those conversations are still in their early stages, and nothing is set in stone quite yet.
He is now one of at least three potential suitors exploring a deal to take a majority stake in Graydon Carter’s media company, Air Mail.
Zucker and Bezos have also had conversations regarding the Washington Post.
One company the former media CEO is not in talks to acquire is his former employer, CNN.
According to people familiar with Zucker’s plans, although he has told some associates he would be interested in acquiring CNN should the opportunity present itself one day, he worries that the network’s current owners, Warner Bros. Discovery, may have damaged the network beyond repair through several cost-cutting measures in recent months.
In late 2020, Zucker and Andrew Morse, CNN’s former digital chief, met with the umbrella company, Emerson Collective, to have preliminary conversations about a potential spinout of the network.
The deal eventually fell through, and AT&T ultimately turned to Discovery to purchase its media empire, including the news network.
