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Norms Impact

MAGA Billionaires Win Battle to Buy CNN and Turn It Trumpy

MAGA-aligned billionaires are poised to seize control of CNN through a hostile takeover, collapsing the firewall between political patronage and national newsroom governance.

General

Feb 26, 2026

Sources

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-billionaires-win-battle-to-buy-cnn-and-turn-it-trumpy

Summary

Paramount Skydance, backed by MAGA-aligned billionaires Larry Ellison and David Ellison, won a bidding war to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, after raising its offer to $31 per share and beating Netflix’s bid. The acquisition would shift control of a major national news outlet toward owners described as “cozy with Trump,” amid expectations that CNN would come under the influence of Bari Weiss, who runs CBS News. The practical consequence is a restructuring of editorial power over CNN and other Warner Bros. Discovery assets through a hostile takeover routed directly to shareholders.

Reality Check

This conduct threatens our rights by concentrating control of a major news institution in hands described as “cozy with Trump,” while signaling planned “changes” after a high-profile political alignment—normalizing patronage-driven media capture. The facts presented do not establish a likely federal criminal case on their own; attendance at a State of the Union and a corporate bid, without an identified exchange for an “official act,” do not meet the core elements of federal bribery (18 U.S.C. § 201) or honest-services fraud (18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343, 1346) as described here. What it does establish is an anti-democratic governance hazard: hostile acquisition mechanics paired with proximity to political power can turn editorial independence into a bargaining chip, leaving the public’s access to credible information vulnerable to private, politically aligned control.

Detail

Paramount Skydance, backed by Larry Ellison and David Ellison, raised its takeover offer for Warner Bros. Discovery from $30 per share to $31 per share and pursued the bid as a hostile offer that went directly to shareholders and included all subsidiaries.

Warner Bros. Discovery board members determined on Thursday that the $31-per-share offer to acquire the entire conglomerate was superior to Netflix’s proposal, which sought only the streaming service and film studio business. Netflix had agreed in December to acquire HBO Max and the film studios for $72 billion, or $27.75 per share, but announced Thursday it would not match the higher offer, stating the deal was no longer financially attractive.

David Ellison attended Donald Trump’s State of the Union as the guest of Sen. Lindsey Graham. The context notes Trump has criticized CNN and called for the network to be sold, and reports that David Ellison told administration officials he would make changes at the network if the takeover succeeds.