(05-09-2018 12:09 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(05-09-2018 11:56 AM)XLance Wrote:  Murdoch sought out Disney.
He needs to do a stock swap (not a cash sale) to avoid billions in capital gains taxes.

Yeah, it would seem that a stock swap is critical here. That avoids the capital gains tax issue along with making Murdoch one of the top shareholders of Disney. Control and influence is as important as the money at this point for him. Making Murdoch into a top shareholder isn't that big of a deal for Disney - they already have big names like the wife of the late Steve Jobs (via Disney's acquisition of Pixar) and George Lucas (via Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm) on that list, so there isn't a sense of "OMG Rupert Murdoch is taking over Disney!" with this transaction. The Disney business would pretty much run the same even with Murdoch having a large stake and presumably a board seat.

In contrast, Comcast is structured very much like... Fox. It has a controlling family (the Roberts) that holds a disproportionate number of voting shares, so the company is run like a really large family business (just as Murdoch has run Fox and News Corp.). As a result, Comcast can't really let Murdoch become a top shareholder because that completely changes the dynamic of who controls that company. That's a huge reason why Comcast is so insistent on a cash deal - they don't want the Murdoch family having any real say in the business going forward at all.

Frank, I would imagine the Murdoch will start dumping Disney stock at the first opportunity. His goal wasn't another investment, but converting his interest in FOX/News Corp into cash (without the taxes).