in 1963, malone began his business career at bell telephone laboratories of at&t, working in economic planning and research and development. in 1968, he joined mckinsey & company, and in 1970, became group vice president at general instrument corporation (gi). he was later president of jerrold electronics, a gi subsidiary. for twenty-four years, from 1973 to 1996, malone served as president and ceo of tele-communications inc. (tci).