With reports of a possible windfall of as much as $100 million from the sale of Current TV for co-founder Al Gore, it appears he may have been better off in business than politics for most of his life. Matthew Sheffield has reported for NewsBusters, Report: Gore Wanted Current TV Sale Completed in 2012 to Avoid Obama Tax Increases. In a bit of a paradox, Al Gore, as the previous politician who appears to have been among the first to have introduced the idea of blaming “the wealthiest one percent” for all of America’s ills, is making headlines with the sale of his Current TV channel to the Al Jazeera.
Forbes writes that the former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate had wanted the sale to the Qatari channel to be completed prior to December 31. That date was important to Gore due to the fact that he was trying to avoid the higher tax rates that President Obama has been insisting on for years. However, despite their best efforts to avoid paying a fairer share for taxes, Gore and his partners were unable to get the deal done before 2013. This is the same Gore who spent a great deal of his 2000 presidential campaign attacking eventual president George W. Bush for allegedly wanting to give away America’s cash to the very richest Americans.
Forbes has also reported on this story, Current TV Sold To Al Jazeera; Possible $400 Million Deal For Al Gore and Co. Al Jazeera, which is the Doha, Qatar-based news broadcaster, has agreed to acquire the seven-year-old cable channel, Current TV, from its co-founders, Al Gore and Joel Hyatt. Although details of the sale price haven’t leaked out yet, it has been estimated by the research firm SNL Kagan that last year Current’s valuation was at approximately $500 million based on its annual revenues of around $100 million. Even a $400 million price tag might mean a windfall of about $100 million for Current co-founder Al Gore, who owned about 25% of the company’s shares at the time of its founding in 2005.
MandelNews.com
