Elon Musk could end up owning part of CNN and CBS News, with Paramount considering asking him to invest in the company as it works to take over Warner Bros. Discovery.
Semafor reported that Paramount executives have discussed bringing Musk into a group of equity investors, meaning people who put money into a company in exchange for a share of ownership. Paramount already owns CBS, and Warner Bros. Discovery owns CNN, so a Musk investment would give him an indirect stake in both newsrooms. Musk is one of several wealthy people Paramount CEO David Ellison is considering, the size of any investment is unknown, and Musk has not commented.
Paramount needs the cash. The Warner Bros. Discovery deal is massive, and Ellison has been looking for ways to ease the financial pressure. He has already tapped the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, which are investment funds owned and run by those countries’ governments.
Elon Musk also has a long history with the Ellison family. David’s father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, invested $1 billion to help Musk buy Twitter, now X, in 2022. He also invested in Tesla in 2018 and served on its board.
Semafor noted that Musk would likely not have formal input into how the company is run, but called the possibility politically fraught. Democrats have raised concerns about his money, his political influence and his control of X during the 2024 election, and his name attached to two of the biggest news operations in the country is expected to set off alarm bells in Washington.
Journalists reacted fast. Former CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta responded with a sinking face emoji, and Chicago news anchor Brandon Pope called the idea “horrendously bad for journalism.” Inside CNN, one staffer told the New York Post the news was “really scary.
The timing adds to the tension. The report landed days after Trump banned CNN reporters from the White House, a ban a federal judge has since ordered lifted. Bari Weiss, the editor in chief of CBS News, is expected to run CNN as well once the merger is complete.
To get the deal past California, Paramount agreed in a settlement with Attorney General Rob Bonta to create independent editorial boards for both CBS News and CNN. The company has not said what power those boards will actually have. Gov. Gavin Newsom supported the deal, in part over fears that Paramount could leave the state and take thousands of jobs with it.
Nothing is final. The merger still needs to close, and Paramount has not said whether it has actually approached Musk.
