Against a backdrop of John Malone’s Liberty Media buying more shares of SiriusXM, company CEO Mel Karmazin expects Liberty to replace the current board of the satcaster.
If that happens, he may leave, too.
“My instincts are that Liberty does not need me at the company,” Karmazin told Wall Street analysts at an investor conference Wednesday. “I have historically been expensive,” The Wall Street Journal reports him as saying.
Liberty Media told the Securities & Exchange Commission on Tuesday that it now holds 49.7% of SiriusXM stock, up from 49.2%.
The company has been gradually buying more stock and twice asked the FCC to declare that it controls the satellite radio company.
Karmazin said he wouldn’t immediately leave if Liberty takes over, according to the account.
Liberty has signaled a desire to spin its SiriusXM stake to its own shareholders if it does gain control. If that happened, Karmazin would consider staying at the company he’s led for seven years, he told analysts.
We’ve reported Karmazin’s employment contract ends in December and he recently indicated the SiriusXM board would decide what to do about that soon.
Both Malone and SiriusXM CEO Mel Karmazin have said the two companies talk regularly. Karmazin said recently he’d do whatever is in the best interest for SiriusXM shareholders and the company.
