CNN Gets New Ownership as Paramount Skydance Completes Warner Bros. Discovery Takeover
CNN is now under new corporate ownership after Paramount Skydance completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, bringing the news network and CBS News under the same corporate parent for the first time.
The $81 billion transaction, valued at roughly $111 billion when debt is included, closed Tuesday, creating a new entertainment and media company known as Skydance. The combined company includes CNN, CBS, Paramount Pictures, HBO Max and numerous other television, film and streaming properties.
The change in ownership comes with particular political attention because of the Ellison family’s relationships with President Donald Trump and because Trump has repeatedly criticized CNN.
At the same time, the new owners have opted for continuity at CNN. Mark Thompson will remain chairman and editor-in-chief, reporting to Skydance CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz.
David Ellison Takes Control of CNN’s Parent Company
The transaction puts David Ellison, the 43-year-old son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, at the center of one of the largest media companies in the world.
Larry Ellison has been a financial backer of the Paramount-Warner transaction and has maintained a relationship with Trump. Those connections became a focus of scrutiny during the lengthy effort to complete the merger.
Trump himself has publicly called for CNN to be sold. In December, he said it was “imperative” that CNN change ownership.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also publicly welcomed the possibility of David Ellison taking control of the network, saying in March that the sooner Ellison took over CNN, “the better.”
Those comments have contributed to questions about how the ownership change could affect CNN’s journalism and editorial independence. The new company has pledged safeguards intended to address those concerns.
Mark Thompson Will Remain CNN’s Top Executive
Despite the change in ownership, there will not be an immediate leadership change at CNN.
Thompson, who has led CNN for about three years, will remain both chairman and editor-in-chief. He will report directly to Ellison and Kreiz under the new corporate structure.
In a message to CNN employees, Thompson said he had confidence that the new leadership understood and would support the principle of independent journalism.
The decision provides continuity at a network that had faced months of uncertainty over who would run it after Paramount prevailed in the competition to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.
CNN and CBS News Will Share a Corporate Parent
The merger also brings CNN and CBS News together under Skydance.
However, the two news organizations are not being combined at this point.
Bari Weiss will remain editor-in-chief of CBS News, while Thompson retains responsibility for CNN. The leadership structure announced by Skydance therefore keeps the networks operating separately despite their common ownership.
David Ellison had previously made significant changes at CBS News after Paramount acquired the network’s former parent company. Weiss was appointed CBS News editor-in-chief after Ellison’s acquisition of The Free Press, where she was a co-founder.
That history had prompted speculation about whether Weiss might also receive a role overseeing CNN. The announced structure does not give her that responsibility.
New Editorial Independence Safeguards
The ownership transition also includes a planned editorial independence board covering CNN and CBS News.
The board is part of commitments made as Paramount sought to resolve legal challenges to the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition. The settlement with states included provisions intended to protect the news divisions from improper political interference.
The effectiveness of those safeguards will depend in part on how the new corporate structure operates after the merger. Critics have questioned whether an oversight board appointed within the new corporate structure can provide sufficient independence, while Skydance has presented the arrangement as a measure to protect editorial standards.
A Major Shift in the U.S. Media Landscape
The acquisition dramatically expands Skydance’s footprint.
The new company controls major film studios, television networks, streaming platforms and news organizations, including CNN and CBS News. Its entertainment holdings include Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, DC Studios and a large collection of television and film properties.
The company also inherits substantial debt from the transaction and has announced plans to reduce costs while integrating the two businesses. Reuters reported that Skydance is targeting billions of dollars in savings as it combines the companies’ operations.
For CNN, the immediate picture is therefore one of new ownership but familiar newsroom leadership.
The network remains under Thompson, while its corporate parent is now controlled by a company led by David Ellison. CNN and CBS News remain separate operations, with additional safeguards intended to address concerns about editorial independence.
How the new ownership affects CNN’s business strategy, programming and relationship with political figures will become clearer as Skydance begins integrating the much larger Warner Bros. Discovery operation.
Benjamin Harris is a RapidReports front page contributor and editor,proud father of four.
