FCC lets Paramount sell 49.5% equity stake to Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar

The Federal Communications Commission yesterday approved Paramount Skydance’s plan to sell large equity stakes to the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
Under US law, companies with licenses to run broadcast stations need FCC approval to have direct or indirect foreign ownership exceeding 25 percent of the company’s stock. Paramount says its indirect foreign ownership will reach 49.5 percent after it receives investments from the sovereign wealth funds and filed a petition asking the FCC to waive the foreign ownership limit.
Paramount, the owner of CBS, holds FCC licenses for the 28 local CBS stations that it owns and operates. Paramount is buying Warner Bros. Discovery in a $111 billion deal that is being partially financed with foreign investment but hasn’t completed the acquisition because US states filed a lawsuit that aims to block the merger. Trump’s Department of Justice approved the merger.
The FCC is letting Paramount sell indirect ownership stakes to “some of the most repressive governments in the world,” FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the commission, said yesterday. “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.”
The Paramount/Warner deal would combine two of the largest movie studios, merge streaming service Paramount+ with HBO Max, and give Paramount ownership of CNN and other TV channels.
“The funds plan to invest $24 billion in the Paramount/Warner deal,” the Los Angeles Times wrote. “Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is set to contribute $10 billion, while the Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi’s L’imad Holding Co. will separately add $7 billion.”

Facts Only

* The Federal Communications Commission approved Paramount Skydance’s plan to sell large equity stakes to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
* US law requires FCC approval for foreign ownership exceeding 25 percent of broadcast station stock.
* Paramount seeks an FCC waiver for the foreign ownership limit.
* Paramount’s indirect foreign ownership is projected to reach 49.5 percent after receiving investments from sovereign wealth funds.
* Paramount owns and operates FCC licenses for 28 local CBS stations.
* Paramount is buying Warner Bros. Discovery in a $111 billion deal.
* The merger agreement was approved by the Trump Department of Justice.
* Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is set to contribute $10 billion.
* The Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi’s L’imad Holding Co. will separately add $7 billion.

Executive Summary

Paramount Skydance has received approval from the Federal Communications Commission to sell large equity stakes to the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. This move follows Paramount's filing for a waiver of the 25 percent foreign ownership limit, as the company expects its indirect foreign ownership to reach 49.5 percent following these investments. The transaction is connected to the ongoing $111 billion deal involving Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes merging streaming services and gaining ownership of television channels like CNN. The stated financial commitment for this portion of the Paramount/Warner deal involves Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund contributing $10 billion, and the Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi’s L’imad Holding Co. each adding $7 billion.

Full Take

The confluence of massive media consolidation with sovereign wealth investment through a regulatory waiver presents a framework for understanding the intersection of market power, national influence, and media control. The explicit statement by the FCC Commissioner regarding securing "influence over what gets said and what gets made" suggests that the legal mechanism (the ownership waiver) is less about simple capital flow and more about externalizing geopolitical objectives through media assets. The pattern emerging is the leveraging of domestic regulatory processes to facilitate large-scale, strategic transfers of influence rather than purely commercial transactions. This demands inquiry into whether the established framework for broadcast regulation adequately anticipates or controls this type of state-backed acquisition, or if it functions as an avenue for sovereign actors to achieve embedded soft power within the domestic information ecosystem. The implied assumption is that regulatory permission is a neutral gateway, which overlooks the potential impact on cognitive sovereignty when ownership stakes in essential media conglomerates are channeled through state entities. What mechanisms exist to ensure that investments made under these waivers serve public interest rather than external strategic aims? What oversight is required for transactions of this magnitude when they tie national wealth directly into narrative control?