John C. Malone is returning to his roots.
On Tuesday, Mr. Malone, the billionaire chairman of Liberty Media, agreed to pay $2.6 billion for a 27 percent stake in Charter Communications.
It is a homecoming of sorts for Mr. Malone. As chief executive of Tele-Communications, he built that cable company into the largest player in the United States. In 1998, he agreed to sell the company, TCI, to AT&T for about $32 billion
Since then, he has focused on the media sector, with holdings in Discovery Communications, Starz and Sirius XM Radio. Mr. Malone has also sought to expand his empire abroad. In February, Liberty Global agreed to buy Virgin Media of Britain for about $16 billion.
As The New York Times wrote in 1997, “a day without a deal is like a day without sunshine†to Mr. Malone. Here is a look at some of his memorable moves.
June 1998: Sale to AT&T | Mr. Malone agreed to sell TCI to AT&T for about $32 billion. Underpinning the deal was a sense at the time that companies like AT&T needed to “become leaders in the new markets of the information age†or be “relegated to also-ran status,†The New York Times wrote.
June 2004: Spinoff of international business | Mr. Malone spun off his international businesses into a separate company called Liberty Media International, which became Liberty Global after a merger the following year with UnitedGlobalCom.
July 2005: Discovery Communications spinoff | Liberty Media completed a spinoff to shareholders of its 50 percent stake in the cable channel group Discovery Communications. The deal was part of Mr. Malone’s effort to reorganize Liberty.
November 2009: Unitymedia | In its first German acquisition, Liberty Global agreed to buy the cable network Unitymedia for $3 billion from investors including BC Partners and Apollo Global Management. Years earlier, in 2001, Liberty had made a play for German cable assets that was blocked by regulators.
December 2010: Split from Barry Diller | Mr. Malone parted ways with his fellow media mogul Mr. Diller, as Liberty Media exchanged its voting stake in Mr. Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp for cash and two business units. Mr. Diller said his relationship with Mr. Malone had at times been a “wild ride.†That was a bit of understatement.
August 2011: Barnes & Noble stake | After offering to buy 70 percent of Barnes & Noble, Liberty Media ended up buying preferred shares that were convertible to a 16.6 percent stake, worth $204 million. The deal came with a hefty dividend and two board seats.
June 2012: OneLink | In partnership with Searchlight Capital Partners, Liberty Global took over OneLink Communications of Puerto Rico in a deal implying an enterprise value of about $585 million for the cable company.
August 2012: Starz Entertainment spinoff | Liberty Media announced that it would spin off the premium cable business Starz as a publicly traded company. The deal was completed the following January, leaving Starz with about $1.5 billion of debt.
January 2013: Shares of Sirius XM | Continuing a long-running effort to take control of Sirius XM Radio, Liberty Media bought enough shares to bring its ownership of the satellite radio broadcaster above 50 percent. Liberty had received government approval to take control of Sirius earlier that month.
February 2013: Virgin Media | Liberty Global struck a deal to buy Virgin Media for about $16 billion, giving it access to the British cable market. The takeover pits Mr. Malone against Rupert Murdoch, his longtime rival.
