Following The Failed BET Buyout, Byron Allen Is Aiming To Purchase Walt Disney Co. For $10B

Byron Allen is looking to land another big media fish.

The TV mogul has reportedly placed a $10 billion bid to take over ownership of Walt Disney Co., and gain control over some of the networks under its banner, including ABC TV, FX, the National Geographic channels, and other broadcast channels in local markets.

Per Bloomberg, the $10 billion price is the networks’ $1.25 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization within the past year, the CBS News reported.   

Earlier this year the media mogul made headlines as he vied to purchase Black Entertainment Television (BET) alongside other bidders that included Tyler Perry and Sean “Diddy” Combs. The sale fell through after the network’s owner, Paramount Global, chose not to sell the majority stake of the network.

Since then, Allen has continued with his plans to dominate the media landscape.

As ESSENCE previously reported, Allen hosted a media upfront this spring at Avra restaurant in midtown Manhattan and delivered a keynote to the crowd of media buyers and television personalities that underscores his business approach: aggressive.

“We plan to buy more [local TV stations], we really like that,” Allen said according to the Hollywood Reporter. “We’re going to buy more cable networks. We’re very acquisitive. We’re going to buy whatever we can that makes sense. I will say we are truly aggressive when it comes to acquisitions. If it’s for sale — if it’s a lemonade stand — we want to buy it. It has to have a video monitor, it just can’t be lemonade, it has to have a video monitor so we can program that.”