Chernin's Next Act: Viacom? Apple? Microsoft?

The talk around the pool at Barry Diller’s annual brunch in Beverly Hills last weekend was not about who would win an Oscar the following day. It was about what Peter Chernin would do once he left News Corp.

Everybody there – including Rupert Murdoch, who wandered among the moguls and machers – knew that Chernin was about to announce his departure, which came officially on Monday.

So what’s next for an A-level executive like Peter Chernin?

Anything he wants.

By all accounts, the News Corp veteran intends to take the next six months to cure malaria.

Really. He spends a lot of time at his non-profit group Malaria No More, and Chernin wants to focus on that intensively with his friends Bill and Melinda Gates.

So that means he won’t be taking a regular job, or seeking to take over another company, anytime in the immediate future.

The 57-year-old executive also remains under contract at News Corp until the end of June, and has promised to help the transition team there.

But after that? The world is his oyster.

In executive suites and mahogany-panelled lunchrooms, in the waiting rooms of private jet terminals and in lunch spots from The Grill to Michael’s, the latest media parlor game is speculation over what Chernin might do.

Nobody thinks that he’ll actually do what’s in his exit clause, which is sit around and produce movies for Fox.

One rampant rumor at Diller’s luncheon was that Chernin might take over Apple, since Steve Jobs is so apparently ill, on leave and his future there is uncertain. Getting Chernin for Apple would kind of seem like a stroke of genius. But one knowledgeable person tells me this rumor is false.

Others are suggesting that Chernin should consider going to Disney, where chief executive Bob Iger is young but has no obvious successor if some unexpected event were to take him out of the picture.

The infighting at Disney between CFO Tom Staggs, ABC chief Anne Sweeney and other top dogs would make an outsider candidate welcome news to Wall Street.  And Dick Cook, who runs the movie studio, has nothing like the experience and breadth of a Peter Chernin.

But Chernin might not want to stay in Old Media. And one might say that Disney is no greater challenge than he has already conquered at News Corp. (On the other hand, with Jobs a major shareholder in Disney, that connection is worth thinking about.)

Any number of companies might want a Chernin to help them point toward the future or find a fresh start – Microsoft, anyone?

No, the smart money is that Chernin will focus on something entrepreneurial, and something related to new technologies.

“My best guess is he uses other people’s money, acquires assets and starts building,” said Brad Ruderman, of Ruderman Capital in Beverly Hills. “There isn’t one private equity sponsor out there that wouldn’t love to have him as executive or on their advisory board. "That makes sense. Chernin could buy a traditional media company and build new technology assets from that platform."

Don’t forget, he was the one who spearheaded News Corp’s purchase of MySpace for $580 million in 2005.

 

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