A recent Semafor report revealed that Elon Musk plans to invest $1 billion in Slydance, which recently completed its purchase of Warner Bros. In an article by The Hollywood Reporter’s Steven Zeitchick, the writer detailed the potential results of Musk’s investment.
This includes the ability to distribute company-owned content, including TV shows from CBS and HBO, on X (Formerly Twitter), which Musk has owned since 2022. With Musk-owned Starlink’s recent expansion into Spectrum internet access, Zeitchick also notes that such a minority stake would give Musk unprecedented control over both streaming access and content creation. Zeitchick also details concerns that Musk could, through his minority stake, influence the editorial decisions of the major news organizations owned by Skydance: CBS News and CNN.
Zeitchick also notes that this investment extends Musk’s longtime relationship with the Ellison family. Skydance CEO David Ellison’s father, Larry Ellison, helped back Musk’s 2022 purchase of Twitter.
Such antitrust concerns are related to this attempted stake in Skydance. By extension, the Warner Bros./Paramount-Skydance merger, Zeitick also notes, isn’t seen as a concern by the FCC, as current FCC chairman Brendan Carr actively supports Musk. The only solutions, Zeitick details, are a change in power in the U.S. government in 2028 or a potential stumble by any of Musk’s companies in the stock market.
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