 that month, but Armstrong was clearly agitated, and he thought he knew the source of the rumor-John Malone must have heard about it from one of the Credibility Breaks All Ties Robertses. Armstrong himself hadn't told anyone but the company's general counsel, Jim Cicconi. I think that was when Armstrong decided that if Roberts ever brought the proposal up again, he would excuse Malone when he briefed the directors. He didn't need an excuse-many of the other board members had been warning Armstrong for months that Malone was the source of many leaks. But, in fact, the Comcast discussions would create conflicts for Malone because of his holdings in Com- cast's QVC shopping network, as well as the programming that Lib- erty Media provided to Comcast. When the moment came, Armstrong told Malone (in a "What can I do?" tone), "Counsel has advised me you should leave the meeting," and he let him believe it was because the board was going to discuss the spin-off of Liberty Media as part of the corporate restructuring. When Malone learned the real reason just one month later, he re- signed from the board, expressing frustration that he had been ex- cluded from discussions of such a significant transaction and calling Comcast's bid "inadequate." But Armstrong was determined to avoid leaks that could throw the entire restructuring scheme into disarray. In any case, after Noski's briefing, some board members were skeptical, but they authorized him to continue the discussions on two conditions. First, Roberts had to understand that the board wanted voting control to follow economic interests in any merger agreement. In other words, AT&T would not agree to different classes of stock such as those at Comcast, which gave the Robertses control of the company. That had been one of the reasons that board member Amos Hostetter had objected to Comcast's original offer to buy MediaOne. Second, Comcast had to sign a standstill agreement that would bar it from launching an unfriendly bid if the talks foundered. When Noski called Brian R