Foreign-backed deal could give Gulf sovereign wealth funds significant influence over one of America’s largest media and entertainment conglomerates
Deal could provide foreign entities with access to the sensitive personal data of millions of Americans; influence over key programming and editorial decisions
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, led Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Representative Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.) in pressing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in his role as Chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), to conduct a full review of any national security risks posed by foreign ownership of Paramount’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The lawmakers sounded the alarm over national security concerns stemming from the deal’s $24 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar sovereign wealth funds, which would result in foreign investors holding between 49.5 to 100 percent of Paramount’s equity interests.
“If this deal goes through, this funding structure could provide foreign entities with access to the sensitive personal data of millions of Americans and significant influence over what would be one of the nation’s largest media and entertainment conglomerates,” wrote the lawmakers.
Recent reports reveal what appear to be attempts by Paramount to evade CFIUS review; executives claimed they eliminated potential CFIUS jurisdiction over the deal because the sovereign wealth funds have agreed to forgo governance rights.
“The recently released details of this deal — and [Paramount’s attempts to evade review] — instead reveal its urgency,” wrote the lawmakers.
The lawmakers argue that Paramount’s assertion that the sovereign wealth funds are merely passive investors does not exempt the transaction from review. Under the 2018 Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA), Congress has an obligation to scrutinize certain non-controlling foreign investments involving companies that maintain sensitive personal data on Americans. The lawmakers also note that federal law explicitly covers transactions designed to evade or circumvent review.
“This entire series of events raises questions about bribery and inappropriate political influence over merger review processes — making it all the more important that CFIUS conducts a thorough, non-political, fact-based national security review,” the lawmakers concluded.
Last month, Trump administration FCC Chair Brendan Carr acknowledged that there “is a role for CFIUS” in the Paramount merger review process, stating it will “ultimately make an up-or-down decision on that foreign investment.”
Senator Warren first led colleagues in calling for a CFIUS review of the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal in December 2025, after news reports indicated foreign entities would fund the deal. In March, Senator Warren released the Treasury Department’s response, in which it dodged its responsibility to conduct a serious national security review.
Senator Warren has led Congressional efforts to closely scrutinize Paramount’s mergers and beat back against corporate media consolidation:
- In May 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined colleagues in pressing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr to rigorously review Paramount’s request to allow the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Qatar ownership of Paramount’s equity to finance the $111 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.
- In April 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, in introducing legislation to restore integrity and independence to federal antitrust enforcement.
- In April 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led her colleagues in requesting that the Department of Justice (DOJ) Acting Inspector General (IG) William M. Blier open a new, independent investigation into potential corruption involving the DOJ’s antitrust-related activity.
- In March 2026, in response to pressure from the Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, the Treasury Department dodged its responsibility to conduct a serious national security review of Paramount’s winning bid for Warner Bros.
- In March 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on their role in Netflix abandoning its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (Warner Bros.) and whether political influence with the Trump administration helped Paramount Skydance (Paramount) win instead.
- In December 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, pressed Scott Bessent, Treasury Secretary and Chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), following reports that, if Warner Bros. were sold to Paramount-Skydance, the deal could be funded by foreign government investors, raising potential national security risks.
- In December 2025, Senator Warren pushed FCC, DOJ to closely scrutinize Nexstar’s acquisition of Tegna and to block this deal if they determine that it violates federal telecommunications or antitrust laws.
- In December 2025, Senator Warren responded to news of Paramount-Skydance’s hostile bid for Warner Bros., calling it a “five-alarm antitrust fire.”
- In December 2025, Senator Warren responded to news of Netflix’s winning bid for Warner Bros., calling it an “anti-monopoly nightmare.”
- In November 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in writing to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater, warning that a potential Warner Bros. deal could be tainted by political favoritism and corruption. Warner Bros., in an upcoming formal auction process, is expected to receive bids from major media companies potentially including Paramount Skydance, Netflix, Apple, Amazon, and Comcast, raising the specter of a new, massive media giant that drives up costs and reduces choices for American families.
- In October 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) questioned Skydance’s refusal to address President Donald Trump’s reported secret side deal.
- In August 2025, Senator Warren released a statement in response to Paramount’s and Skydance’s responses to her letters to each of the companies, describing the responses as “dodgy” and calling for “a full, independent investigation” into whether the companies or their executives engaged in any criminal behavior connected to the approval of the companies’ multi-billion-dollar merger.
- In July 2025, Senator Warren responded to the Trump administration’s approval of the Paramount-Skydance megamerger, saying “bribery is illegal no matter who is president.”
- In July 2025, Senator Warren published an op-ed in Variety: “Elizabeth Warren on Colbert ‘Late Show’ Cancellation: Is the Paramount Trump Payoff a Bribe?”
- In July 2025, Senators Warren, Sanders (I-Vt.), and Wyden (D-Ore.) pressed David Ellison, CEO of Skydance, about reports of a secret deal between Skydance and President Trump—and how it may be related to Paramount’s recent multi-million-dollar settlement agreement with Trump.
- In July 2025, Senators Warren and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with Representatives Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and lawmakers in Congress, unveiled the Presidential Library Anti-Corruption Act to close loopholes that allow presidential libraries to be used as tools for corruption and bribery.
- In July 2025, Senator Warren released a new report exposing how companies, special interests, and foreign governments may be pledging donations to President Trump’s future Presidential Library as a corrupt tool to secure favorable outcomes from his administration.
- In July 2025, Senator Warren called for an investigation into Paramount’s settlement with Trump.
- In May 2025, Senators Warren, Sanders, and Wyden wrote to Shari Redstone, Chair of Paramount, with concerns regarding whether Paramount may be engaging in potentially illegal conduct involving the Trump Administration in exchange for approval of its megamerger with Skydance.
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