Media mogul lies in wait for Malone

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/feb/05/rupert-murdoch-newscorp-virgin-media

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If John Malone is successful in his $20bn-plus pursuit of Virgin Media, it will renew a fierce rivalry, and occasional friendship, he has had with Rupert Murdoch over the decades in the battle for global dominance of the pay-TV market.

Malone, known as the King of Cable, rattled Murdoch in the middle of last decade, building up a stake of nearly 20% in News Corporation, which made him its second largest shareholder.

The 71-year-old forced Murdoch – a decade his senior – to buy him out in a 2007 deal which saw Malone acquire News Corp's stake in DirecTV, the largest satellite broadcaster in the US. Malone was also considered a prime candidate to swoop for full control of BSkyB in 2011 after Murdoch was forced to pull his $8bn (£5bn) offer as the phonehacking scandal engulfed News Corp, the UK satellite broadcaster's largest shareholder with a 39.1% stake. However, Malone demurred, saying Murdoch, below, had shown the "greatest integrity" in previous deals and he didn't want to give him a "hard time", although he admitted he desperately wanted to return to the UK pay-TV market.

Malone, who has been building Liberty Global's cable TV presence across Europe, has a reputation as a private individual who shuns the glamorous billionaire lifestyle. He gives generously to charity and holidays in a camper van.

He first looked at snapping up Virgin Media more than five years ago. Before the 2006 merger of NTL and Telewest, which created the UK's largest cable TV company, Malone made two unsuccessful attempts to control NTL and held a significant stake in Telewest. He has been a senior player in the US cable TV industry since the early 1970s and has owned interests in the UK cable sector for much of a career characterised by complex dealmaking and asset swaps.