Money to burn at Fox: $787M settlement; $1B market loss

FPI / April 26, 2023

How could Fox casually settle with Dominion for $787 million and then days later lose $1 billion on the same day it fired Tucker Carlson? Inquiring minds want to know.

The settlement was a huge windfall for New York-based Staple Street Capital Group LLC, the small buyout firm that owns Dominion Voting Systems.

In 2018, Staple Street paid $38.3 million to acquire a 76.2% stake in Dominion. The $787 million is equivalent to 20 times the buyout amount. Staple Street has $900 million in assets under management, according to its website.

The settlement, which also comes with an acknowledgement of a court ruling from Fox News that it aired false claims about Dominion regarding its role in the 2020 election, is about half the $1.6 billion in damages Dominion was seeking in its lawsuit.

Related: Who counted the votes? Who are the stakeholders in Dominion Voting Systems? November 10, 2020

The Dominion settlement was announced on April 18. Six days later, Fox announced it was "parting ways" with Carlson.

Minutes after the news of Carlson's departure was announced, Fox Corporation’s stock lost $1 billion in market capitalization.

Fox reportedly had about $4 billion of cash on hand as of December 2022. MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman expects the company to pay the settlement during the current quarter, The Associated Press reported.

Fox will be able to defray some of the expense from the settlement, primarily through insurance and the use of tax deductions.

Fox can deduct the Dominion settlement from its income taxes as an expense necessary for the cost of doing business. Fox Chief Communications Officer Brian Nick has confirmed the deductibility of the settlement.

Meanwhile, BlackRock in January had significantly increased its stake in both Fox and Dominion.

On Jan. 31, BlackRock Inc. filed an SC 13G/A form with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosing ownership of 59,148,081 shares of Dominion Resources, Inc. This represents 7.1 percent ownership of the company. In their previous filing dated Feb. 1, 2022, BlackRock Inc. had reported owning 55,640,019 shares.

Also on Jan. 31, Fintel reported that BlackRock has filed a 13G form with the SEC disclosing ownership of 5.31MM shares of Fox Factory Holding Corp (FOXF). This represents 12.6% of the company.

In their previous filing dated January 27, 2022, BlackRock reported 5.16MM shares and 12.30% of the company, an increase in shares of 2.87% and an increase in total ownership of 0.30% (calculated as current - previous percent ownership).

Speculation on social media has it that Rupert Murdoch's heirs and Paul Ryan plan to sell Fox.

One Washington insider suggested on background that the firing by Fox of Carlson and its Dominion settlement was clearly a Deep State action and that money was not an issue.

Free Press International
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