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CNN Live At Daybreak

Ted Turner Sells 60 Million AOLTW Shares

Aired May 06, 2003 - 06:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little business buzz right now. AOL Time Warner's largest individual shareholder just sold a huge chunk of his stock.
Susan Lisovicz is in New York.

And I don't know what to think about this -- Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course we have to start with who the shareholder is, somebody we all know very well at CNN, Ted Turner, the founder of this network. And, Carol, he says that he's basically doing what a lot of investors do which is to diversify your financial holdings. But the specifics of this are that he dumped 60 million shares or $784 million based on the current share price.

Now he still remains AOL Time Warner's largest single individual shareholder, but he did dump half his stock. And let's face it, that stock has taken a big hit, down 59 percent over the past year. And it really affected his net worth because so much of it is tied up in AOL Time Warner shares. Last year he was ranked 80th among American's richest people, but that was down substantially, again, related to the AOL Time Warner shares.

COSTELLO: Yes, isn't it amazing that you can be kind of depressed about being No. 80, the 80th richest person in the country, in the world.

A quick look at...

LISOVICZ: Still on the list.

COSTELLO: I know, exactly.

A quick look at the futures. Higher after a mixed performance yesterday, Carol. The Dow ended down 50 points. The Nasdaq ended up 1 point. The big news today is what the Federal Reserve will do. The announcement today at 2:15 Eastern Time. The general consensus is that the Fed will leave rates unchanged, but everyone always wants to hear what the Federal Reserve will say about the state of the economy.

COSTELLO: Definitely so. Susan, many thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 6, 2003 - 06:45   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little business buzz right now. AOL Time Warner's largest individual shareholder just sold a huge chunk of his stock.
Susan Lisovicz is in New York.

And I don't know what to think about this -- Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course we have to start with who the shareholder is, somebody we all know very well at CNN, Ted Turner, the founder of this network. And, Carol, he says that he's basically doing what a lot of investors do which is to diversify your financial holdings. But the specifics of this are that he dumped 60 million shares or $784 million based on the current share price.

Now he still remains AOL Time Warner's largest single individual shareholder, but he did dump half his stock. And let's face it, that stock has taken a big hit, down 59 percent over the past year. And it really affected his net worth because so much of it is tied up in AOL Time Warner shares. Last year he was ranked 80th among American's richest people, but that was down substantially, again, related to the AOL Time Warner shares.

COSTELLO: Yes, isn't it amazing that you can be kind of depressed about being No. 80, the 80th richest person in the country, in the world.

A quick look at...

LISOVICZ: Still on the list.

COSTELLO: I know, exactly.

A quick look at the futures. Higher after a mixed performance yesterday, Carol. The Dow ended down 50 points. The Nasdaq ended up 1 point. The big news today is what the Federal Reserve will do. The announcement today at 2:15 Eastern Time. The general consensus is that the Fed will leave rates unchanged, but everyone always wants to hear what the Federal Reserve will say about the state of the economy.

COSTELLO: Definitely so. Susan, many thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM AT www.fdch.com