GIVE UP THAT MONEY, BUSINESS. CUT SOME BLACK AND HISPANIC IN, SAID JESSE ...In a complaint filed with the Internal Revenue Service, the National Legacy and Policy Center outlined several instances where Jessee Jackson was a central figure in various activities, some of which involved Davenport of Georgetown Partners. The filing includes a section dealing specifically with proposed mergers and acquisitions readers may be quite familiar with, including the CBS/Viacom deal: The deal to sell Ameritech’s cellular business to Davenport and GTE was worth $3.3 billion. Davenport put up $60 million for a 7 percent share of the new company co-owned with GTE. Despite his smaller share, Davenport was named “chairman,” though a spokesman said he would have “no operational responsibility. None.” Davenport, who had known Jackson about 10 years, had no experience in telecommunications. He formerly owned a company called Envirotest, which tested auto emissions for state governments. Jackson weighed in on Envirotest’s behalf with some elected officials, including former Connecticut Gov. Lowell Weicker, according to news accounts. Davenport sold the company in 1998, helping to boost his net worth to close to $100 million. Verizon (formerly GTE) representatives denied a New York Times story saying that GTE executives resented having to cut Davenport in on the deal. “Rainbow; PUSH introduced us to Chester Davenport,” Verizon spokeswoman Bobbi Hennessey said. “But it’s ultimately our decision who we involve in our business.” As CBS sought Federal Communications Commission permission to purchase Viacom, Jackson made loud noises about the snag the deal was headed for because federal law prohibits one company from owning two networks, and Viacom’s UPN is considered a network. The rules also prohibit one company from serving more than 35 percent of the U.S. population. CBS and UPN would reach about 41 percent of the nation. Jackson’s prescription for relief was simple: CBS should sell UPN — which aims much of its programming at African-American viewers — to a minority owner. Jackson met with CBS’ Karmazin to make his pitch and he brought along Davenport, Sutton and Spanish Broadcasting Systems Vice President Joe Garcia as examples of minority businessmen who could buy UPN. A week later, Jackson made the same pitch to then-FCC Chairman William Kennard. Kennard has spoken at Jackson’s Wall Street conferences and has backed Jackson’s arguments that the FCC should consider the impact on minority customers and businesses in deciding whether to approve mergers. Kennard’s critics have said that the former chairman, who left office in January, helped Jackson’s strategy of holding companies’ feet to the fire...
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 09:59:34 +0000
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