Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes was in Sun Valley, Idaho, last week for the annual media conference there as rumors swirled that his company was an acquisition target. Reporters asked if he knew anything about interest from Google or 21st Century Fox.
“I know nothing about it,” he said, before ducking away for coffee.
Now it turns out that Bewkes knew quite a bit: Rupert Murdoch’s Fox confirmed this morning that it had made a formal offer to acquire Time Warner in June, but was rebuffed. The $80 billion offer, which Time Warner also confirmed, included details about cost savings, regulatory issues, and financing the deal, according to reports.
So, Bewkes lied.
Perhaps it was his only choice. He couldn’t have broken the news right then and there, in a polo shirt and boat shoes. What was he supposed to say?
Well, he could have ignored the question, like so many other moguls walking past the press in Sun Valley. Asked last week by a CNN reporter about the future of his company, Apple CEO Tim Cook replied, “I love CNN.”
In other words, if you don’t have anything truthful to say, don’t say anything at all.
This is not about the press, which can ask whatever questions it wants but doesn’t always deserve answers. It’s about investors. By outright lying, Bewkes erodes his credibility with those who might choose to put their money into Time Warner, which is suddenly 15% more valuable now that the truth has come out. Shareholders were hurt by that lie.
Every statement Bewkes makes now about potential acquisitions will and should be viewed with severe skepticism, and that’s not going to inspire confidence in Time Warner’s leadership at a critical moment for the company. (Time Warner, which is understandably busy this morning, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.)
Bewkes is hardly the first CEO to lie. He’s not even yet a cautionary tale. But if he had that moment in Sun Valley to do over again, perhaps he could have done himself and investors a favor by simply declining to comment.
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes lied about Fox’s offer to buy his company
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