- The FCC's Media Bureau approved Paramount Skydance's petition to allow Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds to hold nearly 50% of the equity in the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery mega-studio, giving them stakes in CBS, CNN, HBO and two historic Hollywood film studios.
- Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is set to contribute $10 billion, while the Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi's L'imad Holding Co. will separately add $7 billion, for at least $24 billion in sovereign investment in the Paramount-Warner deal.
- The approval came through the FCC Media Bureau under Chairman Brendan Carr without a full commission vote. Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez criticized the decision as allowing repressive governments to indirectly control major US media outlets.
- Larry Ellison, the Oracle co-founder, agreed in February to personally guarantee the $47 billion in equity needed to buy out Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders for $81 billion. The Ellison family retains majority voting control and control of Paramount.
- The merger remains stalled by an antitrust challenge from California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 other Democratic state attorneys general.
Quotes
“Upon review of [Paramount's] Petition and consideration of the record of this proceeding, we find that the public interest would be served by granting the Petition," FCC said in its ruling, noting that Paramount has said the proposed ownership changes would "not result in a transfer of control of Paramount.”
“An investment this large in one of America's biggest media companies doesn't just buy equity, it secures influence over what gets said and what gets made," Gomez said.”