Filed by: AT&T Inc.
Commission File No.: 001-08610
Pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act of 1933
Subject Company: Discovery, Inc. (Commission File No.: 001-34177)
The following are excerpts from the transcript of an interview of John Stankey, CEO of AT&T Inc., at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C.:
David Rubenstein (05:33):
Okay. So the articles in the
newspaper that covered this transaction, you said that, The head of Discovery called you up and said he wanted to talk with you, and so forth. Suppose he hadnt called you up, would you have done something like this anyway, or did
you need him to call you up to think it was a good idea to do this?
John Stankey (05:50):
I think you probably could read some media accounts that maybe characterize it that there was a bolt of lightning that hit on a Sunday afternoon. And I
dont think that, thats an accurate characterization. If you draw that conclusion from maybe whats been written or printed, I would tell you that the process really started July 1st, when I walked into this role of 2020. And, that
process started by spending a lot of time with our investor base, and talking with our owners, and understanding what our perceptions were of those who bring capital into our business to invest, and what they saw in the company and what their
history with the business has been. Of course, was an evaluation of our markets, and what our customers were doing and what they expected. And frankly, a look internally at our employees, and what they wanted to do in terms of the mission and how we
manage our company going forward.
John Stankey (06:48):
And as you know in running a business, theres usually not yes or no answers and there isnt black or white, its an optimization equation. And
all those things kind of had to be considered and starting July 1st, I spent a lot of time evaluating those issues, considering them, trying to understand what the best path forward for the company is. We were doing a lot of work on scenarios, and
permutations and consideration of what options were. And when that call that you alluded to came in on that day, I would say we had done about probably three quarters, maybe a little bit more of our work and knew where we were going to go, and what
our preferred options or likely options were.
John Stankey (07:27):
And, I think like minds think alike. I think David independently was of course evaluating his view of the industry, his view of his company, what was likely to
happen in markets. And as a result of that, I think theres just a natural symmetry that was there, largely because of foundational work that was probably done at both companies, but it was very deliberately considered. And I would tell you
that there were many, many permutations and options like that.
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