FCC OKs Foreign Funding Above 25% for Paramount Skydance's Bid for Warner Bros.

What the FCC decided

Paramount Skydance won clearance to exceed the 25% foreign ownership threshold for its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., after the FCC's Media Bureau concluded the financing would "serve the public interest." Paramount has argued that international capital would bolster news gathering at its broadcast stations nationally and locally. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had earlier said he was awaiting a review by Team Telecom, a group that includes the Justice, Defense and Homeland Security departments. A Paramount spokesperson said Team Telecom also approved the financing on Thursday.

Who is funding the deal

CBS's parent company and owner of other media assets has put forward a $110 billion merger, debt included, to acquire Warner Bros., the company behind the CNN news channel and other holdings. The financing package includes $24 billion in equity supplied by three Middle East sovereign wealth funds. Paramount said foreign investors would end up controlling 49.5% of its Class B stock.

Control and critics

Paramount told regulators the foreign stake "will not result in a transfer of control of Paramount," adding that the "Ellison family will retain a majority of the voting interests and control." A spokesperson said the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners together would have the largest equity position in the merged entity and hold 100% of the voting shares, "with no other equity participant having any governance rights." CEO David Ellison has secured approvals from top antitrust officials. The Oracle Corp. co‑founder, Larry Ellison, is David Ellison's father; he will also contribute financing for the bid and is an ardent backer of President Donald Trump.

Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the commission, posted that the FCC "just let some of the most repressive governments in the world indirectly control nearly all of a combined Paramount-Warner Bros." She said she sought a full commission vote, but the ruling came from the Media Bureau. "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 made," she said.

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Why investors should pay attention

There is a lot to parse here: sizable Middle East equity, concentrated voting power with the Ellison family and RedBird, and continuing lawsuits brought by state attorneys general along with the Writers Guild trade union. Whether you care about media, politics, or both, the outcome could reshape who steers what millions watch and read. If the deal closes, pay attention to how governance, newsroom resources, and content decisions evolve under the new structure.

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