Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

(4) Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value

For assets and liabilities required to be reported at fair value, GAAP provides a hierarchy that prioritizes inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value into three broad levels. Level 1 inputs are quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the reporting entity has the ability to access at the measurement date. Level 2 inputs are inputs, other than quoted market prices included within Level 1, that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs for the asset or liability. The Company does not have any recurring assets or liabilities measured at fair value that would be considered Level 3.

The Company’s assets and liabilities measured at fair value are as follows:

	December 31, 2023				December 31, 2022
			Quoted prices	Significant		Quoted prices	Significant
			in active	other		in active	other
			markets for	observable		markets for	observable
			identical assets	inputs		identical assets	inputs
Description	Total		(Level 1)	(Level 2)	Total	(Level 1)	(Level 2)
	amounts in millions
Cash equivalents	$	78	78	—	288	288	—
Indemnification obligation	$	—	—	—	50	—	50
Exchangeable senior debentures	$	1,255	—	1,255	1,373	—	1,373

Pursuant to an indemnification agreement initially entered into by GCI Liberty and assumed by Liberty Broadband in connection with the Combination, Liberty Broadband had agreed to indemnify Liberty Interactive LLC (“LI LLC”), a subsidiary of Qurate Retail, for certain payments made to holders of LI LLC’s 1.75% exchangeable debentures due 2046 (the "LI LLC 1.75% Exchangeable Debentures"). The indemnification liability due to LI LLC pertained to the holders’ ability to exercise their exchange right according to the terms of the LI LLC 1.75% Exchangeable Debentures on or before October 5, 2023. Such amount equaled the difference between the exchange value and par value of the LI LLC 1.75% Exchangeable Debentures at the time the exchange occurred. The indemnification obligation recorded in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2022 represented the fair value of the estimated exchange feature included in the LI LLC 1.75% Exchangeable Debentures primarily based on observable market data as significant inputs (Level 2). As of December 31, 2023, all remaining LI LLC 1.75% Exchangeable Debentures were either retired or exchanged and indemnification payments of $45 million were made by Liberty Broadband to Qurate Retail in connection with exchanges of $330 million of the LI LLC 1.75% Exchangeable Debentures that settled in the period.

The Company’s exchangeable senior debentures are debt instruments with quoted market value prices that are not considered to be traded on “active markets,” as defined in GAAP, and are reported in the foregoing table as Level 2 fair value.

Other Financial Instruments

Other financial instruments not measured at fair value on a recurring basis include trade receivables, trade payables, accrued and other current liabilities, equity securities, current portion of debt (with the exception of the 1.25% Debentures prior to their redemption in the third quarter of 2023, and the 2.75% Debentures and the 1.75% Debentures prior to their redemption in the first quarter of 2023 (each as defined in note 7)) and long-term debt (with the exception of the 3.125% Debentures (as defined in note 7)). With the exception of long-term debt and preferred stock, the carrying amount approximates fair value due to the short maturity of these instruments as reported on our consolidated balance sheets. The carrying value of the Margin Loan Facility, the Senior Credit Facility and the Wells Fargo Note Payable (each as defined in note 7) all bear interest at a variable rate and therefore are also considered to approximate fair value.

Realized and Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Financial Instruments

Realized and unrealized gains (losses) on financial instruments are comprised of changes in the fair value of the following:

	Years ended December 31,
	2023		2022	2021
	amounts in millions
Indemnification obligation	$	5	273	21
Exchangeable senior debentures (1)		(106)	61	46
	$	(101)	334	67

(1) The Company has elected to account for its exchangeable senior debentures using the fair value option. Changes in the fair value of the exchangeable senior debentures recognized in the consolidated statements of operations are primarily due to market factors driven by changes in the fair value of the underlying shares into which the debt is exchangeable. The Company isolates the portion of the unrealized gain (loss) attributable to the change in the instrument specific credit risk and recognizes such amount in other comprehensive income. The change in the fair value of the exchangeable senior debentures attributable to changes in the instrument specific credit risk before tax was a gain of $55 million, a loss of $7 million and a loss of $2 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The cumulative change was a gain of $55 million as of December 31, 2023.