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Where Is Mini Me?: Mathias DĂśpfner, Chief Executive Officer Axel Springer SE, speaks at a reception for the 80th birthday of major shareholder Friede Springer. (Photo by Britta Pedersen/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Welcome to the latest edition of Breaker. If this email has been forwarded, you can subscribe here and send your questions and complaints here. If you have a tip contact the 24/7 Breaker Tip Hotline via text or Signal # 551 655 2343. Anonymity guaranteed!

After a three-year saga, ownership of The Telegraph appears to be finally in the hands of a new proprietor: Axel Springer. CEO Mathias Döpfner addressed staff in a memo on Tuesday about his bold plan to turn The Telegraph “into a truly international brand.” In tonight’s edition, we report on what this will mean for The Telegraph’s long-touted U.S. expansion and other Axel brands, Politico, and Business Insider. 

Also, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has sent out invitations for an “intimate gathering” just days before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner – you may guess who the CBS News owner is planning on honoring. 

Plus, Wired poaches a top Guardian journalist, another peerless Puck writer has a side hustle, and the fallout from a walkout on 60 Minutes Australia.

Finally, if you’ve shut the laptop and decide to enjoy some of this Spring weather over the last several days, we have you covered. We have a comprehensive reading, watching, and listening list that means you can enjoy your weekend knowing Breaker will bring you up to speed with all the media news you missed.

Mentioned tonight: Gerry Cardinale, Mathias Döpfner, Emma Tucker, Lionel Barber, Martin Clarke, Lord Rothermere, Chris Evans, Anna Jones, Alex Burns, Ankush Khardori, Barbara Peng, Dovid Efune, Meredith Kopit Levien, Anna Wintour, Stan Duncan, Shari Redstone, Bari Weiss, David Ellison, Roula Khalaf, Bill Cohan, Dylan Byers, Pilar Queen, Dianna Russini, Jessica Reed Kraus, Piers Morgan, Tucker Carlson, Katie Drummond, Elon Musk, Hasan Hashmi, Russell Brand, Milo Yiannopoulos, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, Ben McKenzie, Jake Lahut, Andrew Marchand, Donie O’Sullivan, Adam Gabbatt, Maggie Miller, Maggie Harrison Dupré, Kate Gilgan, Isabella Simonetti, Benjamin Mullin, Alexandra Alter, Katie Robertson, Meg James, Adam Hegarty, and more.

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Springer Wires The Telegraph

(Exclusive.) On Tuesday, staff at The Telegraph received some long-awaited good news. After what was dubbed “the auction from hell,” the U.K. government had cleared Axel Springer’s takeover of the vaunted title. 

It ends three years of uncertainty for Telegraph journalists who, along the ride, had been looking at a fate in the hands of Red Bird Capital boss Gerry Cardinale or a consortium involving a former publicist for an Israeli boxing champion, a litigious actor and anti-woke activist, a steam railway buff, and the Trump-loving owner of the Baltimore Sun. All teamed up with Axel Springer’s Mathias Döpfner to attempt to roll the then-current preferred bid by Daily Mail owner Lord Rothermere. 

Döpfner must have gotten wise to the rogues’ gallery he was about to go into business with and dumped them. Ultimately, Rothermere couldn’t stump up the cash, allowing the giant German to pay $770 million to buy the title known as the “Tory-graph.” 

“Soon we can begin writing a new chapter of the Telegraph Group and Axel Springer,” Döpfner wrote to Telegraph staffers Tuesday, in a note that was obtained and reviewed by Breaker. 

“For us, there is a sense of belonging. An arrival in a place that may be geographically new, yet is intellectually and culturally very familiar.”

Breaker has learned that Döpfner spent Monday in London at The Telegraph's Victoria HQ. He also used the visit to interview UK Opposition Leader, Kemi Badenoch, for his must-see podcast MDMEETS (Döpfner’s interview with Nile Rodgers proves that billionaires are just like us.)  

The big detail buried in the memo is that Döpfner himself will …

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⁘ As credited in The New York Times, CNBC, Axios, The New York Post, CNN, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and more.

Adam Friedland on The Breaker Pod: His Secret Book Project & Who Should Buy the Vox Pod Network

The Breaker pod has returned for a brand new season, and for episode one, we sat down with comedian Adam Friedland. 

Friedland, the host of The Adam Friedland Show, fresh off the back of interviews with Gavin Newsom, Scott Jennings, and Olivia Nuzzi, shared his thoughts on the potential sale of Vox’s podcasting network, where he used to work.

“I think they should sell it to Bari Weiss, personally,” he told us from the historic James Brown house above The Ear Inn in Soho. 

Through dozens of interviews, Friedland has sought to humanize his guests from the celebrity and political realms. Often, their life experiences have reshaped Friedland's perception of what it means to be in the public eye, including his interview with Alec Baldwin.

Baldwin recalled his experience on the set of “Rust”, where he accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. At the time, the pile-on from the public demonized his character, while other celebrities have been strangely celebrated after such controversy.  

“People just fucking love it when terrible things happen to you…There are other celebrities that have done horrific things, I mean, Mike Tyson, just went to jail for brutally assaulting his girlfriend at the time, and he's in The Hangover.”

We also ask Friedland about a new book project that he is believed to be working on.

Watch the latest episode of The Breaker podcast here. Make sure you check us out and subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your pods.

Top Gun: Maverick PAC

(Exclusive.) Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has much to be thankful for. After sealing the deal with Shari Redstone and acquiring CBS owners Paramount, he quickly paid an exorbitant amount for Bari Weiss’ Substack, The Free Press. He then moved his attention to buying Warner Bros. Discovery in a $110 billion deal, beating Netflix in the process. 

So it seems fitting that Ellison would host an intimate gathering later this month, “honoring …

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⁘ As credited in The New York Times, CNBC, Axios, The New York Post, CNN, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and more.

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