I seem to spend a lot of my time musing on ways to take back power for the people. I assume you do to. Our progressive/liberal activism's most central tenet is about trying to re-balance the equation of power.
So my latest scheme comes from the old adage: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
We'd all agree that Media Ownership is a huge issue. So why don't we own some of the media?
Our target: Clear Channel
Clear Channel's current Market Capitalization is $14.39 Billion (or Market Cap), closing at $28.90 a share on Friday.
Through my crude understanding of Corporations, Market Cap is the number of public shares outstanding multiplied by the current stock price.
To control a corporation outright, you need 50%+1 of the shares.
Using Yahoo's numbers and my understanding, we can calculate there are currently around 498 Million shares of Clear Channel.
That means to own a controlling interest you'd need to control 249 Million shares of stock. At $28.90 a share, that would cost around $7.2 Billion.
So if you, me, and 10 Million of our closest friends could scrounge up $720 a piece, we could control a majority interest in Clear Channel.
Take this also with the fact that Clear Channel is currently involved in a lawsuit about a failed Private Equity buyout, and perhaps we all could get it for even cheaper.