Media

The Most Ambitious Man in Media Has a Problem

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A Michael Wolff yarn about an overreaching media baron is always a treat, and today’s feature documenting Jeff Zucker’s quest to build himself a media empire after being forced out at CNN in 2022 is no exception. Despite a dismal business climate, Zucker found financial backers in the immensely wealthy ruling family of the United Arab Emirates, and he found a property for sale in the U.K.’s 169-year-old Daily Telegraph newspaper. What could go wrong? Well, a lot. The most ambitious man in media, as Michael describes Zucker, is now stuck in a half-accomplished acquisition of the paper, facing intense backlash from not only his new employees but the entire British government. Will his famous acumen and will to win be enough to get him out of what has become an epic bind?

—Jebediah Reed, editor, Intelligencer

Jeff Zucker’s Fleet Street Misadventure The former CNN and NBC boss wants a new media empire. Is that even possible in 2024?

Photo-Illustration: Cold War Steve
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