CNN Now Owned by Trump Aligned Capital Entity

On Tuesday, October 6, 2026, Paramount celebrated a significant milestone with its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, uniting iconic brands such as CNN, CBS, HBO, Warner Bros., and Paramount+ under a newly rebranded entity, Skydance.

This transformative deal, which saw shareholders receive approximately $81 billion, brings the total value to an impressive $110 billion.

David Ellison steps in as chairman and CEO, leading the way, while his family and RedBird Capital proudly hold 100 percent of the voting shares, ensuring a focused and unified vision moving forward.

That is the part the old guard cannot spin: After years of CNN treating Trump like a virus, the network now sits inside a company controlled by the Ellison family. Larry Ellison, David’s father and the Oracle founder, stood with Trump at the White House for the Stargate announcement and has been a major political ally.

The voting power is locked. Foreign money may sit in the equity, but the FCC made clear it gets no say over content, management, or governance.

David Ellison called the close historic. “From the start, our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality,” he said.

Brick-and-glass studio complex illuminated at dusk on a wet street

In a note to staff, Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz said the merger creates “a stronger competitor, one with the scale to take on the biggest players in our industry.”

CBS News stays under Bari Weiss. CNN stays under Mark Thompson for now, with an editorial board the company agreed to as part of settling the state antitrust fight. Structure matters more than titles. The people who sign the checks have changed. The reporters who spent a decade selling panic about Trump now answer, ultimately, to ownership that does not share their religion.

Imagine that. The network that built an industry out of Trump outrage just got bought by Trump-aligned capital. The fake-news industrial complex is fuming because the ownership chart finally moved.