Paramount CEO David Ellison is reportedly thinking about bringing in Elon Musk to invest in the company as it gobbles up Warner Bros. Discovery. And while details about the possible investment are thin, the world can thank California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who reportedly helped clear the way for the merger of the two companies following a standoff with California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Semafor reports that Paramount execs “have discussed asking Elon Musk to become part of a syndicate of equity investors into Paramount,” citing anonymous sources. There’s no word on how much Musk might be asked to invest or even if it’s actually going to happen. But it seems like a logical step, given the fact that David’s father, Larry Ellison, invested $1 billion in Musk’s 2022 deal to take Twitter private.
Musk is the richest person in the world, but much of his wealth is tied up in shares of SpaceX and Tesla, meaning he would presumably need to sell off some of his stock to invest. Musk sold shares three times in the lead-up to his purchase, first in April 2022 ($8.5 billion), then in August 2022 ($7 billion), and in November 2022 ($3.95 billion). SpaceX is currently trading at $150 per share, and Tesla is trading at $378 per share.
The state of California, along with other AGs, sued to stop the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, and the company started to pretend like it might leave the state. By all accounts, Attorney General Rob Bonta held all the cards, and he folded after pressure from Gavin Newsom, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Newsom has always been a pro-industry guy, no matter the industry, so that makes sense. But Newsom denies pressuring Bonta.
Paramount has officially reached a deal with the 12 state Attorneys General to settle the antitrust claims. When the deal is finalized, two enormous news brands, CNN and CBS News, would be under the same roof. And that roof just so happens to be a very friendly abode for one Donald Trump.
Last week, Trump’s FCC signed off on the foreign investments into Paramount from Middle East sovereign wealth funds, including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Collectively, they’ll own 49.5% of the company when it’s merged with Warner Bros. Discovery. The concern from critics is that dictators in the Middle East would have sway over the content on CNN and CBS, among other media properties.
Musk’s purchase of X immediately allowed the far-right billionaire to turn the platform into a radicalization machine for Trump. The SpaceX CEO infamously gave two Nazi-style salutes when Trump retook power in Jan. 2025 and spent millions of dollars to help get Republicans elected in the upcoming midterms this November. Now Musk has the chance to help influence CNN and CBS.
President Trump will be personally greeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping with a red carpet welcome Wednesday, a rare gesture that was not afforded to Trump when he visited China in May. Trump will also host a state dinner for Xi on Thursday, where American tech oligarchs will be in attendance, including Musk, Sam Altman, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Jensen Huang, and Sundar Pichai.
It’s unclear whether Larry or David Ellison will attend.
