Media and Telecom Sector
The media and telecom sector saw major corporate and regulatory developments, including a record-setting $12.5 billion sale of the Los Angeles Lakers to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger. Meanwhile, Amazon faced attention for automatically using Twitch streamer content for generative AI training, and Meta removed 756,000 Australian teen accounts to comply with new government social media bans.
Two media entities sued President Donald Trump in Manhattan federal court over Truth API, a Trump Media & Technology Group service charging up to $100,000 a month for early access to market-moving posts. The lawsuit, brought by The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, argues that selling preferential access to official government announcements violates the First and Fifth Amendments while enriching the president, who holds a 41.3 percent stake in Trump Media worth approximately $950 million. Truth API launched on August 1 and delivers posts from ten high-profile accounts, including Trump and the White House, fractionally faster to subscribers. Trump Media interim Chief Executive Kevin McGurn stated on an earnings call that the company has signed up more than 10 customers, mostly high-frequency trading firms paying between $60,000 and $100,000 monthly. The legal complaint asks the court to block the White House from posting official announcements exclusively on Truth Social while the paid feed operates. Trump Media reported a net loss of $238.1 million in the second quarter, driven largely by $190.4 million in non-cash losses on digital assets.
Mark Walter has agreed to sell his majority equity in the Los Angeles Lakers to a consortium led by Joshua Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger in a deal valuing the NBA franchise at $12.5 billion. Walter acquired the team less than a year ago in October at a $10 billion valuation after the franchise spent over 45 years under the ownership of the Buss family. The transaction follows recent federal scrutiny and investigations by the SEC and U.S. prosecutors into financial improprieties at Walter's insurance companies and Guggenheim Partners. Kushner and Iger, who previously partnered when Iger joined Kushner's venture firm Thrive Capital, plan to take over stewardship pending approval from the NBA's board of governors. The $12.5 billion price tag sets a new record for U.S. sports franchise valuations.
Former Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Chapek is publishing a memoir titled Behind the Castle Walls: My Thirty Years at the Happiest Place on Earth on September 29, 2026. Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, will release the 272-page book at a price of $30. The project recounts Chapek's three-decade career at the company, beginning with his 1993 arrival as marketing director for home video through his turbulent stint as chief executive from February 2020 to November 2022. Chapek assumed the role just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic forced widespread closures of theme parks, cruise lines, and production studios. The memoir addresses high-stakes internal maneuvering, political conflicts in Florida over legislation like HB 1557, and his abrupt ousting in favor of returning CEO Bob Iger. Chapek co-wrote the book with Don Yaeger following four years of distance from his departure.