Paramount reportedly sounded out Elon Musk as investor

techSep 23, 2026202,266

Semafor reported that David Ellison and Paramount executives discussed bringing Elon Musk into an investor syndicate tied to Paramount’s planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery assets, a move described as an equity investment to help Paramount shore up financing for the deal. The talks prompted attention because an investor stake could extend to networks and studios under the combined company, with one post noting the possibility Musk could hold a stake in CBS News and CNN. Critics flagged concerns about editorial independence and corporate influence, with Raw Story publishing a headline calling the prospect "horrendously bad" for news outlets. Other commentators on social posts warned about Musk’s potential influence over programming and oversight structures being created for CNN and CBS News. Paramount’s outreach to outside investors comes as the Ellison family and partners work to assemble financing for the Warner-related acquisition and related studio holdings. It is unclear whether Musk committed any capital; Semafor’s report describes discussions rather than a finalized agreement.

Justin Baragona

@justinbaragona.bsky.social

Welp. According to Semafor, David Ellison has discussed bringing Elon Musk on as an investor in Paramount's merger with Warner Bros., which could mean Musk could have a stake in CBS News and CNN. www.semafor.com/article/09/2...

11483h ago

123178

Nice work Bonta and Newsom!!!

David Call108

conveniently for elon, HBO owns and is supposed to release the 4hr documentary about him that he wants to block, so that shouldn’t be a problem now

Melissa91

Holy crap -. this is really bad. Great job, Gavin.

J.J.49

We need new media now. Independent media is important but we need new large scale news outlets. We need actors and others pulling resources to start new production companies like a century ago.

Wendy28

Ellison is so far out over his skis on this. He’s overextended & needs the money - but adding Musk to the mix will surely bring down this “empire”. So maybe that’s a good thing? 🤔

Terri19

Interesting that this comes out AFTER an agreement with AG’s is reached,

Quoting this

🇬🇾🗽Sydette The Dreaded Gorgon🗽🇬🇾28

Again the narrative will be “no one saw this coming” With a hefty dash of “The people who mocked this possibility and aided these people for “access”” are the “only people who know enough to stop this “

Mark Copelovitch24

The random civilian who illegally stole everyone's data & dismantled large chunks of the federal government, in an end run around Article I of the Constitution, should be jailed for life & not have large govt contracts, the ability to contribute to political campaigns, or stakes in large media orgs.

Olivia Hill23

When we say Democrats give us the same results, remember that this is the fault of current Presidential hopeful and guy I'm told I'm going to HAVE to vote for, Gavin Newsom.

Crash6

how does this keep getting worse

woke oak4

Did You Know?: Both Jack resigning from Twitter, which opened the door to him encouraging Elon to get involved, and AT&T spinning WarnerMedia off into Warner Bros. Discovery can be traced back to the same activist investor, Jesse Cohn.

Despoina [Commissions Open]4

Bought to you by Gavin "I hate the marginalized and love the billionaire" Newsom and Bonta. Truly what an useless pair

Alexis Sara2

Gotta love that if your rich enough you don't have to have money ro buy things. You can just have the Saudai government and the richest man alive invest in you after the deals basically closed and apparently no one will stop you.

GᴀʀʀC2

Now mind you that they are only CONSIDERING it and Musk didn't go forward with anything yet... With that said, I wouldn't be surprised if he did, and it will be BAD, BAD, BAD! All with a capital B! 😵

I may be invisible, but you're transparent.2

This timeline is so unrelentingly stupid.

e.w. niedermeyer

@niedermeyer.online

🚨🚨🚨PARAMOUNT ASKED ELON MUSK FOR AN EQUITY INVESTMENT AMID PURCHASE OF HBO, WHICH HAS STREAMING RIGHTS TO THE "MUSK" DOCUMENTARY🚨🚨🚨

9093h ago

e.w. niedermeyer254

HOLY SHIT, THERE IT IS RIGHT THERE

Isaiah Bishop55

you just know its going to leak

vortex_egg34

It's crazy-making all of the concern we just had to live through about social media censorship of right-wing disinformation.

Gulliver's Jump Then Fall26

Tired: catch and kill a negative news story Wired: catch and kill an entire cable channel

Aleks, no X21

Congratulations to Newsome for selling out the film industry to Musk.

Phineas16

Since our merger is in the clear we’re going straight into the corruption phase

Quoting this

mtsw348

Guys I keep telling you all about The Plot to Enslave America and people treat it like its some conspiracy theory or something when it's all happening right out there in the open.

shauna127

a little catch and kill. as a treat.

Michaël Jarjour117

Extremely justified use of all caps

Erin Biba46

I feel deeply conflicted right now because on the one hand I don’t want Musk anywhere near this shit and am morally horrified at the idea of burying this movie but I am also tickled and delighted at the idea of someone strong arming and blackmailing Elon Musk for large sums of money.

Nicholas Slayton23

Great work there, Newsom and Bonta

Bebo, Chicago Rat Czar 🐀10

Our God-Emperor Billionaires working overtime to censure us from harmful media, thank you God-Emperor Billionaires!!! Your hoarded gold ensures your righteousness in all things!!!

Nicholas Slayton10

1) shady AF 2) aren't all of these guys leveraging financial assistance from Gulf oil funds already?

Godspeed You! Bluesky Emperor6

Grok, what does an antitrust violation look like?

Meechy Dorko5

i would simply leave my laptop with a copy of my documentary on it behind in a public location, where it is stolen and the contents uploaded to various torrent websites based outside of the United States

Rootless Suburbian4

If this gets the doc banned in any way Streisand Effect the shit out of it.

Semafor

@semafor.com

🟡 SCOOP: Paramount executives have discussed asking Elon Musk for an equity investment as it looks to firm up its financial picture to digest Warner Bros. Discovery. www.semafor.com/article/09/2...

613h ago

jayhawkshannon.bsky.social34

So all of this angst & lawsuits over a merger, and the buyer doesn’t have all the money to close the deal?

Semafor18

Musk’s name is one of a number of wealthy individuals that Paramount CEO David Ellison has considered tapping for the syndicate, people familiar with the matter said. Read more from Rohan Goswami: www.semafor.com/article/09/2...

Taylor Ledbetter3

This is because the gulf funds suddenly got flimsy, isn’t it?

Dingus Ex Machina2

Seems like the sort of thing a viable settlement ought to have covered

Granuailynn1

wonder if that was known before all the AGs agreed to the deal....

Lisa1

Oh good, a shit sandwich with even more shit and glass!!

Quoting this

✪ Gray Skies Ahead ✪118

Oh I see they found a way to make this EXPONENTIALLY HORRID.

Sean18

Becoming a pirate if AEW ends up staying with Paramount. These people are never getting any of my money. Ever.

Samantha Ferreira Is Back On Her Book Bullshit12

... ... ... We don't hate Gavin Newsom enough.

William Bibbiani7

Alright, which one of you assholes said “at least the Paramount/Warner Bros. merger can’t get any worse?” You can’t tempt the universe like that, guys. We talked about this.

Ms . Penny Oaken, SkyWitch 🧙‍♀️6

Looks like that boycott of Paramount is just never going to end, huh Star Trek was nice while it lasted, sorry to all the good people whose work, jobs, and legacies were swallowed by this singularity of capitalism

Hellrazor Ramon6

Also I love how if you're rich you can buy anything you want even if you don't have the money when you want to buy the thing.

CavsKermit 5

Anyone else wondering just how liquid Musk is?

Eric Freeman5

Substance aside it’s good to know everyone who writes about deals sounds like Shams

Truther_Dare4

Elon is gonna make the fucking worst Superman movie of all time.

Immigrant Punk4

*taps sign* USains are about to get a crash course on 90s Russia.

Cinephilia & Beyond

@cinephiliabeyond.org

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE will own 49% of all these assets. Ellison is now involving the little Nazi Musk in the complex co-ownership of all content that Americans will consume on TV, in cinemas, and on the Internet. What a wonderful world.

201h ago

Quoting this

Cinephilia & Beyond8

The most massive global boycott of Paramount-Warner Brothers can begin.

Jason Bailey6

I know it's not remotely the point but it's also wild how all of our evil Bond villains are just the most pasty, wormy, sentient ingrown-toenails of men imaginable

roscone5

If you haven't already, this deal is the perfect time to drop Paramount+ and HBO 🤷‍♂️

will2

two thoughts: great job democrats letting elon musk potentially influence more of our media ecosystem! and two: damn ellison still doesn't have the money lined up....??

Jon Passantino

@passantino.bsky.social

Semafor reports David Ellison’s Paramount is looking for cash from Elon Musk as it takes over Warners www.semafor.com/article/09/2...

194h ago

RIDE THE LIGHTNING!4

Warners and Paramount are going to be bailed out by the next president, or by a governor of California. Clearly, there is no fucking money for this fucking merger, and it's just going to implode so fucking hard.

AMPTsuper2

This is not a done deal. Doesn't the judge have to sign off on it? "The settlement still needs a final sign-off by a judge." apnews.com/article/warn... 9/21/2026

Quoting this

Fred, His Enemy Getting a Vote18

Might as well shut it down if he does.

karen2

It's not enough that Musk already controls his own media channel (twitter)? Ugh.

Representative Becca Balint

@balint.house.gov

Right on the heels of their settlement, the Ellisons and Paramount are considering bringing on ~noted nonpartisan~ Elon Musk (🙄) as an investor. This is why it's such a big issue for CNN, CBS, and TikTok to be all under one roof. This merger is already looking like a disaster.

121h ago

Alex Zalben

@azalben.bsky.social

I'm sure once they bring on Elon Musk that independent news oversight board they're establishing for CNN and CBS News, which was already going to go very smoothly and is a real thing, will not be tampered with in any way.

173h ago

therealWokeKong

@donkeykonga.bsky.social

Ask anyone their opinions on Elon Musk and most would tell you he’s a creepy nazi pervert but somehow Paramount thinks wheeling this man out will change peoples’ minds about the acquisition

132h ago

Hunter

@hunterub.bsky.social

If you're wondering what content can be produced when Elon Musk, the Ellisons, the Saudi royal family, and the assorted minions of all-of-the-above have to vet every script ... so am I. The new Batman villain is going to be 'communism'.

93h ago

liz ten eleven

@selectric.space

questions of editorial control are far less interesting to me than what "elon musk as an investor" actually means here. what does that mean? spacex shares? tesla shares? is he trying to become the most leveraged man in the world?

143h ago

Limo Wreck

@limowreck.bsky.social

Gavin Newsom approved the sale because he believes that Elon Musk should hold absolute power over the US media. An absolutely reprehensible individual

93h ago