Deals
Dinner at Martha’s Vineyard Sparked AT&T’s Time Warner Deal
- Peter Chernin pitched value of Warner Bros. to AT&T’s CEO
- Time Warner’s Bewkes, AT&T’s Stephenson came to terms quickly
AT&T-Time Warner and the Dawn of 'TV Everywhere'
Credit longtime Hollywood executive Peter Chernin with igniting the spark that led to AT&T Inc.’s $85.4 billion takeover of Time Warner Inc.
Chernin and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson met over dinner on Martha’s Vineyard in early August as guests of Glenn Hutchins, a board member at the phone company and co-founder of private equity firm Silver Lake, Stephenson said Sunday in an interview. Earlier, Chernin had met with Gary Ginsberg, an executive vice president of Time Warner and close associate of CEO Jeff Bewkes, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named discussing private conversations.