| Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
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MARTIN LIPTON HERBERT M. WACHTELL PAUL VIZCARRONDO, JR. PETER C. HEIN HAROLD S. NOVIKOFF MEYER G. KOPLOW THEODORE N. MIRVIS EDWARD D. HERLIHY DANIEL A. NEFF ANDREW R. BROWNSTEIN MICHAEL H. BYOWITZ PAUL K. ROWE MARC WOLINSKY DAVID GRUENSTEIN STEVEN A. ROSENBLUM STEPHANIE J. SELIGMAN JOHN F. SAVARESE SCOTT K. CHARLES JODI J. SCHWARTZ ADAM O. EMMERICH GEORGE T. CONWAY III | RALPH M. LEVENE RICHARD G. MASON MICHAEL J. SEGAL DAVID M. SILK ROBIN PANOVKA DAVID A. KATZ ILENE KNABLE GOTTS DAVID M. MURPHY JEFFREY M. WINTNER TREVOR S. NORWITZ BEN M. GERMANA ANDREW J. NUSSBAUM RACHELLE SILVERBERG STEVEN A. COHEN DEBORAH L. PAUL DAVID C. KARP RICHARD K. KIM JOSHUA R. CAMMAKER MARK GORDON JOSEPH D. LARSON LAWRENCE S. MAKOW | 51 WEST 52ND STREET NEW YORK, N.Y. 10019-6150 TELEPHONE: (212) 403 -1000 FACSIMILE: (212) 403 -2000
GEORGE A. KATZ (1965-1989) JAMES H. FOGELSON (1967-1991) LEONARD M. ROSEN (1965-2014)
OF COUNSEL
| JEANNEMARIE O’BRIEN WAYNE M. CARLIN STEPHEN R. DiPRIMA NICHOLAS G. DEMMO IGOR KIRMAN JONATHAN M. MOSES T. EIKO STANGE DAVID A. SCHWARTZ JOHN F. LYNCH WILLIAM SAVITT ERIC M. ROSOF MARTIN J.E. ARMS GREGORY E. OSTLING DAVID B. ANDERS ANDREA K. WAHLQUIST ADAM J. SHAPIRO NELSON O. FITTS JOSHUA M. HOLMES DAVID E. SHAPIRO DAMIAN G. DIDDEN ANTE VUCIC | IAN BOCZKO MATTHEW M. GUEST DAVID E. KAHAN DAVID K. LAM BENJAMIN M. ROTH JOSHUA A. FELTMAN ELAINE P. GOLIN EMIL A. KLEINHAUS KARESSA L. CAIN RONALD C. CHEN GORDON S. MOODIE DONGJU SONG BRADLEY R. WILSON GRAHAM W. MELI GREGORY E. PESSIN CARRIE M. REILLY MARK F. VEBLEN VICTOR GOLDFELD EDWARD J. LEE BRANDON C. PRICE KEVIN S. SCHWARTZ | ||||||
| WILLIAM T. ALLEN PETER C. CANELLOS DAVID M. EINHORN KENNETH B. FORREST THEODORE GEWERTZ MAURA R. GROSSMAN RICHARD D. KATCHER DOUGLAS K. MAYER ROBERT B. MAZUR PHILIP MINDLIN ROBERT M. MORGENTHAU | DAVID S. NEILL BERNARD W. NUSSBAUM LAWRENCE B. PEDOWITZ ERIC S. ROBINSON PATRICIA A. ROBINSON* ERIC M. ROTH MICHAEL W. SCHWARTZ ELLIOTT V. STEIN WARREN R. STERN PATRICIA A. VLAHAKIS AMY R. WOLF | |||||||||
* ADMITTED IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
COUNSEL
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| DAVID M. ADLERSTEIN AMANDA K. ALLEXON LOUIS J. BARASH DIANNA CHEN ANDREW J.H. CHEUNG PAMELA EHRENKRANZ KATHRYN GETTLES-ATWA ADAM M. GOGOLAK | PAULA N. GORDON NANCY B. GREENBAUM MARK A. KOENIG J. AUSTIN LYONS ALICIA C. McCARTHY SABASTIAN V. NILES AMANDA N. PERSAUD JEFFREY A. WATIKER | |||||||||
August 17, 2015
VIA EDGAR
Mr. Larry Spirgel
Assistant Director
Division of Corporation Finance
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20549
| Re: | Charter Communications, Inc. |
| Form 10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 |
| Filed February 24, 2015 |
| File No. 001-33664 |
Dear Mr. Spirgel:
On behalf of our client, Charter Communications, Inc. (the “Company”), we are providing the Company’s responses to the comments of the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the “Staff”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) set forth in your letter, dated August 6, 2015, with respect to Form 10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 (File No. 001-33664), filed on February 24, 2015.
This letter is being filed electronically via the EDGAR system today.
Mr. Larry Spirgel
August 17, 2015
Page 2
For the Staff’s convenience, the text of the Staff’s comment is set forth below in bold, followed in by the Company’s response.
Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management, page 37
| 1. | We note your response; however, Rule 13d-3(a) provides that a person may have beneficial ownership if they, directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship or otherwise have or share voting or investment power. Please provide us with further analysis supporting your view that Mr. Malone’s position on the Executive Committee of the Board of Liberty Broadband and his relationship with his co-Executive Committee member, Mr. Maffei, does not bestow beneficial ownership upon Mr. Malone as determined under Rule 13d-3(a). Notwithstanding the Executive Committee’s requirement for unanimity and the absence of an “agreement” between Messrs. Malone and Maffei, under these facts and circumstances, it appears that Mr. Malone, through his position on the Committee, his role as Chairman, his significant equity interest and his relationship with Mr. Maffei, may have the power to direct the voting and disposition of Liberty Broadband’s 25% interest in Charter because of an “arrangement, understanding or relationship” between Mr. Maffei and himself. |
Response: In response to the Staff’s comment, the Company will add substantially the following text in subsequent filings of its Form 10-K, including proxy statements for annual meetings, in the footnote to the beneficial ownership table in respect of beneficial ownership by Liberty Broadband Corporation:
John C. Malone, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Liberty Broadband, may be deemed to have voting and dispositive control, pursuant to Rule 13d-3(a), over the shares of Charter owned by Liberty Broadband as a result of the positions he holds with Liberty Broadband as well as his control of approximately 47.1% of the voting power of Liberty Broadband (which percentage was reported by Liberty Broadband in its definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC on August 11, 2015), among other factors. Mr. Malone, however, disclaims beneficial ownership of any Charter shares owned by Liberty Broadband on the basis that he is not, individually, a party to any agreement, arrangement or understanding relating to the voting or disposition of any such shares.
* * * * *
Mr. Larry Spirgel
August 17, 2015
Page 3
We hope that the foregoing has been responsive to the Staff’s comments. If you have any questions or comments regarding the foregoing, please do not hesitate to contact me at (212) 403-1166 or by email at DSong@wlrk.com.
| Sincerely, |
| /s/ DongJu Song |
DongJu Song |
cc (via e-mail):
Thomas M. Rutledge, Charter Communications, Inc.
Kevin D. Howard, Charter Communications, Inc.
Richard R. Dykhouse, Charter Communications, Inc.