October 1, 2025
Born to Be Wired: Lessons from a Lifetime Transforming Television, Wiring America for the Internet, and Growing Formula One, Discovery, Sirius XM, and the Atlanta Braves
John Malone
John Malone’s memoir, Born to Be Wired, offers a riveting insider’s account of the cable industry’s formative chaos, including TCI’s near-bankruptcies and his high-functioning autistic-driven analytical prowess, while weaving in colorful tales of deal making with titans like Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner, the Roberts family, and Barry Diller. As one of the eight exceptional CEOs profiled in one of our favorite investing tomes, The Outsiders, Malone exemplifies the capital allocation genius we seek, with his risk philosophy—“knowing with certainty that the risk won’t kill you is what liberates you to take it”—mirroring our own disciplined risk controls that empower us to step into “risky” situations. His pioneering emphasis on EBITDA as a valuation metric, creative tax-avoidance maneuvers via tracking stocks, and eclectic stakes in assets from Charter to Formula One and even thoroughbred horses (a chapter revealing the gritty parallels to value stock-picking) underscore a consistent logic for compounding value, though he underplays emerging threats like fiber and fixed wireless that now pressure cable multiples. For value investors, this book is an essential and enjoyable read, sharpening the art of spotting undervalued opportunities through relentless curiosity and asymmetric risk-taking.