Tucker Carlson's departure from Fox News reduced company value by $507 million

(Patria) - Tucker Carlson, one of Fox News' most popular hosts, was worth more than $500 million to the parent company. At least that is what stock trading indicates, writes Bloomberg. Fox Corp. shares fell as much as 5.4 percent on Monday, before losses narrowed to 2.9 percent, after the company said Carlson's departure took immediate effect. The departure comes just days after the network agreed to pay $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems Inc.

"Fox Cable News is now in recovery mode and it will likely take time for the stock to recover," said KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Brandon Nispel.

"With the upfronts right around the corner in May, we wonder what Fox will tell advertisers and how it will fill the void in terms of programming and viewership."

Excluding sports, "Tucker Carlson Tonight" is the highest-rated prime-time show on cable television, according to the latest Nielsen ratings, with a nightly audience that sometimes exceeded 3.7 million viewers. Additionally, the channel will likely regain most of its overall viewership once a replacement host is announced, Nispel said.

As speculation spread about Carlson's next job, investors bought shares of Rumble Inc., a conservative video network backed by Peter Thiel, and Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company merging with Trump Media.

Rumble shares rose 6 percent, while Digital World gained 2.9 percent.