The Federal Communications Commission has approved Paramount Skydance's plan to sell large equity stakes to the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, waiving the statutory 25% foreign ownership limit for broadcast license holders.
Under US law, companies holding broadcast licenses need FCC approval for foreign ownership exceeding 25%. Paramount — which owns CBS and holds licenses for 28 local CBS stations — told the FCC its indirect foreign ownership would reach 49.5% after receiving investments totaling $24 billion from the three sovereign funds. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is contributing $10 billion, Qatar's Investment Authority $7 billion, and Abu Dhabi's L'imad Holding Co. $7 billion.
The FCC's Media Bureau approved the petition in a declaratory ruling without a full commission vote, a move that drew sharp criticism from Commissioner Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the commission. "This new and novel issue" should have gone to a full commission vote, Gomez said, calling the staff-level approval a decision made "with no public vote and no accountability for a call of this magnitude."
The investment is tied to Paramount's proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery — a deal that would combine two of the largest movie studios, merge Paramount+ with HBO Max, and give Paramount ownership of CNN. A federal judge has already ruled the merger likely violates antitrust law and halted the deal while litigation continues.
Paramount has committed that foreign investors will hold only non-voting Class B shares, with the Ellison family and RedBird Capital retaining 100% of voting Class A shares. The FCC said it was "persuaded by Paramount's argument" that non-voting investors cannot wield influence over editorial decisions.
Gomez and Senate Democrats pushed back forcefully. "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 what gets made," Gomez said. Senators had previously warned that "the foreign governments behind this investment systematically suppress press freedom in their own countries and have made a series of investments and gifts to entities controlled by the president and his family."
Paramount agreed to conditions including ongoing foreign ownership monitoring, ensuring foreign investors have no access to non-public data or editorial influence, and seeking additional FCC approval before any changes to investor rights or governance structures.
