"I don't expect to ever be a candidate again," said Al Gore, who is about to be reincarnated as a media mogul with the launch of his new cable and satellite channel, Current TV.
"I think of myself as a recovering politician, and I'm on about Step 9," he told the New York Times in an interview.
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"I've not reached the point in my life where I would say there's zero percent chance. But I truly don't expect it."
Asked how he might respond if someone asked him what he does for a living, Gore replied that he'd say: "I am chairman of Current TV, and I'm having a blast."
But in addition to Current, Gore has started Generation Investment Management, a London-based investment firm.
As NewsMax.com reported earlier, Gore and his partners will try to invest in 30 to 50 stocks they think will outdo the rest of the Dow over a three- to five-year time frame, while at the same time choosing equity in eco- and worker-friendly companies.
Gore is also a member of the board of Apple and an unpaid consultant to senior executives at Google.
Current TV is aimed at viewers between the ages of 18 and 34, and will rely on submissions from viewers for much of its content, according to the Times.
Viewers will be given an opportunity to choose whether certain videos will air by voting on Current's Web site, www.current.tv.
Gore is determined to make Current TV profitable, but says his broader mission is to give young viewers control over what they watch.
He insists the channel will not have a single political viewpoint. But his chief executive is Joel Hyatt, who served as national finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee during Gore's failed run for the White House in 2000.
One major investor in Current TV is Blum Capital Partners of San Francisco, led by Richard Blum, husband of liberal Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California. Another is Yucaipa Companies of Los Angeles, led by Democratic fund-raiser Ron Burkle.
When Current TV is launched next week it will reach about 20 million homes, most of them subscribers to the DirecTV satellite service or Time Warner Cable's digital package.
Experts say that cable or satellite channels need to reach about 50 million homes to be successful in attracting advertisers.
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