Malone resigns from AT&T board

Two days after Comcast’s hostile $58 billion takeover bid for AT&T Broadband, cable magnate John Malone resigned from AT&T’s board of directors yesterday, reportedly spurned by his exclusion from talks between the two companies.

Malone was scheduled to leave AT&T’s board Aug. 10 to lead the AT&T spin-off Liberty Media Group business. The separation is part of AT&T’s restructuring plan announced in October to split the company into four independent entities--business, consumer, wireless and broadband. The wireless unit was spun off Monday.

With growing speculation surrounding the proposed merger, some industry watchers say Malone wants to make a counter-offer for the AT&T cable assets and his resignation suggests as much. Others are not so certain, saying the move would be a step backward for Malone, who sold Tele-Communications Inc. to AT&T three years ago.

“Any time John Malone is involved in anything, it sparks speculation,” said Michael Goodman, an analyst with The Yankee Group. “In purchasing back AT&T Broadband, it’s really going back where he was, and we really don’t think he wants the headache of a day-to-day operation of an MSO.”