Liberty Media signaled Wednesday that longtime chairman and CEO Greg Maffei will step down at the end of the year, with president John Malone stepping in as interim CEO. Effective Jan. 1, Maffei will serve as a senior advisor to the company, helping transition amid a planned spin-off of its live entertainment assets into a new, publicly traded business.
During his 19-year tenure, Maffei led Liberty Media through significant growth, investing in high-profile companies such as Charter Communications, Live Nation Entertainment, Atlanta Braves, SiriusXM, Formula 1 and DirecTV. The company said that under Maffei's leadership, Liberty's composite value had an annual growth rate of 17%.
Maffei has held numerous leadership roles at Liberty portfolio companies and, upon his resignation, will remain president of Qurate Retail, Liberty TripAdvisor, Tripadvisor and SiriusXM and will retain directorships at Charter, Live Nation and Zillow.
In a statement, Malone praised Maffei's impact, particularly his strategic vision that has guided Liberty Media's evolution and growth. Malone credited Maffei with establishing Liberty's current streamlined structure, and Maffei expressed his gratitude for his nearly two decades at Liberty Media. “He grows our asset base and has made the company better and more valuable to shareholders while simultaneously overseeing up to five separate public companies,” Malone said.
The announcement of Maffei's departure coincides with Liberty's publicized plans to spin off the Liberty Live group — comprised of Liberty's 30 percent stake in Live Nation and its minority stake in other companies such as the Kroenke Arena Company — into a separate public entity. Prior to the demerger, Liberty Media's Quint subsidiary will be re-allocated from Formula One Group to Liberty Live Group in exchange for private assets and cash consideration to be determined at a later date. The company said the moves should simplify Liberty Media's capital structure.
Following the demerger, which is expected to be finalized in the second half of 2025, Liberty Media will focus primarily on sports, while the newly formed Liberty Live will become a separate listed company, ending Liberty Media's viewing shareholding structure.
Earlier today, Charter Communications announced that it will acquire Liberty Broadband in an all-inclusive transaction.
“Following today's announcements from Liberty Media and Liberty Broadband, all Liberty acquisitions completed during my tenure are now structured where shareholders can have more direct ownership in their upside,” Maffei said. “The corporate structure has been optimized and the portfolio companies are in strong positions with talented executives. While it is never easy to leave an organization as dynamic as Liberty, I am confident that this is the right time.”
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