Activist investor Loeb drops support for independent ESPN

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
AP Economics Writer

Activist investor Daniel Loeb said Sunday that he is no longer pushing Disney Corp. to spin off or sell its blockbuster cable network ESPN. Disney CEO Bob Chapek had rejected Loeb’s urging in an interview with the Financial Times, published Sunday. Loeb tweeted Sunday morning, “We have a better understanding” of ESPN’s “potential as a standalone business” and as “another vertical for Disney to reach a global audience to generate ad and subscriber revenues.”