A New York supermarket billionaire said he wants to buy CNN and that he just wants $1 per year for it

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Sunday, 11 June, 2023, 00:42

Just two days after embattled CNN CEO Chris Licht stepped down from his role in the aftermath of a brutal profile of his leadership, a New York supermarket billionaire said he wants to buy CNN from its parent Warner Bros. Discovery.

"I'd go run the place tomorrow morning, and all I'd want is $1 per year and a piece of the upside," John Catsimatidis, the owner of New York City supermarket chain Gristedes Foods, told the New York Post in an interview Thursday.

Catsimatidis did not share details of his potential offer, only saying that financing wouldn't be a problem.

"It's up to the investment bankers to come up with the numbers," he told the outlet.

"We could always bring partners in, but I want to run the place," he added. "We are capable of putting down a substantial amount of money."

Catsimatidis first talked about his potential CNN bid during a Thursday morning appearance on radio station 77 WABC, where he said: "You heard it first here. I'm going to make an offer to buy back CNN."

"Is that true, seriously?" asked host Sid Rosenberg, to which Catsimatidis shot back: "Seriously."

In 2019, Catsimatidis bought 77 WABC, a conservative radio station, for $12.5 million, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Catsimatidis — who is the 702nd-wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of $4.1 billion, per Forbes — claimed he could double CNN's profits in a short time, according to the Post.

The 74-year-old mogul said Licht's ouster was a bad call given the executive helmed Donald Trump's controversial town hall appearance in May. The town hall irked CNN's core audience, Insider reported.

"They fired the guy at CNN because he had Donald Trump. That is the craziest thing in the world," Catsimatidis — an outspoken Trump supporter — told 77 WABC.

Catsimatidis did not respond to Insider's request for comment sent via Gristedes after regular business hours. Warner Bros. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.