John MaloneLiberty Media is one of the most powerful figures in the media world, responsible for creating cable and satellite television empires.

The 68-year-old started out at Bell Labs, the research arm of AT&T. He later switched to management and became head of TCI, helping to forge the cable TV industry in the US. He sold TCI to AT&T in 1999 for $48bn - then a record for a deal. Two years later, it was spun off as Liberty Media.