Two directors on the board at media giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) resigned after the Department of Justice (DOJ) raised antitrust concerns regarding their similar positions on the board of Charter Communications.
Steven Miron and Steven Newhouse stepped down Monday, WBD announced, after determining “in light of the changing dynamics of competition in the entertainment industry, they elected to resign rather than to contest the matter.”
The DOJ probed the pair of directors for potential violations of Section 8 of the Clayton Act, which prohibits the same person or company from serving simultaneously on the boards of competitors. Charter, through Spectrum cable, and WBD, through its streaming platform Max, both provide video distribution services to customers, the agency noted in a press release.
Miron and Newhouse did not admit any violations in resigning.
“We will continue to vigorously enforce the antitrust laws when necessary to address overreach by corporations and their designated agents,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Kades of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division in the agency’s release.
In the past two years, the DOJ has played part in pushing more than a dozen board directors to resign over potential violations of the Clayton Act.
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