Liberty Media Corp. (NASDAQ:LMCK) (2.1%) (LMCK – $38.09 – NASDAQ) (LMCA – $38.63 – NASDAQ) is a diversified investment vehicle guided by cable television pioneer John Malone, the Chairman, and former Microsoft CFO Greg Maffei, the CEO. The company owns over 60% of satellite radio provider Sirius XM, 35% of Live Nation, the Atlanta Braves baseball club, and stakes in several other public and private entities. Malone and Maffei have created significant value for shareholders over the past several years as they tax efficiently distributed, traded, or sold interests in Discovery Communications (1.1%), News Corp. (0.5%), Time Warner Inc. (1.5%), DIRECTV, Starz, and QVC, among others. Liberty currently trades at a discount to the sum of the public values of its component parts. In a continuing strategy to close that gap, Liberty announced it would split into three tracker stocks reflecting the economics of Sirius XM, the Atlanta Braves and Live Nation, respectively. The tracker stock issuance became effective on Monday, April 19.
From the Gabelli 25 Value Fund first quarter 2016 shareholder commentary.
