Phil Falcone is keen to profit from TV coverage of crypto assets — an odd bid to reverse a decades-long slide from being a billionaire that he’s broken into.
The fallen hedge fund star — who amassed a $2 billion fortune over the past 10 years by shorting the housing market before wasting money — is actively pitching investors on something called Blockchain.TV, according to The Post. has learned.
The Harvard-educated Moneyman was forced to sell everything from fancy furnishings in his Upper East Side townhouse to artwork and even his Hampton estate in recent years to pay off his nearly $100 million debt has been done.
Falcone, 59, is being sued by the state of New York for $12 million in back taxes and told the judge – representing himself – that he was so tight on cash that he could afford to pay for his mortgage, his daughters’ tuition or even that couldn’t pay for a lawyer. , He still owes Melody Business Finance $74 million after the company lent money to buy the property.
For his latest gamble, Falcone enlisted former music executive Charlie Walk, who was kicked out of his perch at Republic Records in 2018, to help him pitch the idea and bring in investors from Jan, Direct. People with knowledge say.
However, they are yet to raise the necessary funds to launch the platform. Sources told The Post that he is unclear about how much he wants to raise and how much he has raised.
In a comment to The Post, Falcone said that there was a “quiet period” and that he had not been able to discuss the crypto network. Typically, there is a quiet period before a company goes public — but Falcone said the company had no plans to go public.
When Post reached out to Walk for comment, it only asked “Can we help you?” before it gets dark.
According to people familiar with Falcone’s pitch, the Minnesota native believes the world needs a 24-hour network dedicated exclusively to covering cryptocurrencies, NFTs and Web3 — and that Wants to be the one to do this.
The Newborn Network’s website is short on details. The only description of the service says that “Dedicated to the digital space, Blockchain.TV is launching in the third quarter of 2022, bringing breaking news, entertainment and trending digital activity about crypto, Web3 and the metaverse.”
Of course, given that the cryptocurrency bitcoin has dropped to just under $30,000 — from an all-time high of just over $68,000 — the network could be an even harder sell at the moment.
His push for Blockchain.TV coincided with another venture he launched in 2020, when he quietly began buying a broadcast station called Madison Technologies, which was rebranded to Go.TV last year.
Through Go.TV, they disbanded a number of “low-power” broadcast channels—which have a smaller radius than “full-power stations” but over-the-air to target an increasing number of cord-cutters. Can send air signal. Falcone owns channels in LA, Seattle and Houston, the report says.
Go.TV, which describes itself as “the first mobile over-the-air free TV network” on its website, doesn’t clarify what that means or when it will launch.
However, people in the know say Falcone’s acquisition of TV stations could run into Blockchain.TV – so users can watch crypto coverage online and on traditional cable channels as well.
Just last month, The Post reported that the former hedge fund manager was selling not only his real estate, but also his furniture to raise enough money to live together.
He is suing private equity giant Apollo for $2 billion, claiming the firm defrauded him into investing in the now-defunct telecommunications company LightSquare, Inc.
Falcone and his wife, former actress Lisa Marie, have two twin daughters aged 16. The family still lives in Manhattan, although The Post could not determine where their current residence is.
Over the years, Lisa Marie made headlines for using the N-word and being arrested for drunk driving.
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