President Donald Trump told the public in December, “it’s imperative that CNN be sold.” On Tuesday, the network officially changes hands.
CNN has ranked among Trump’s most frequent media targets.
Starting Tuesday, it answers to the Ellison family, whose takeover of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery takes effect through a merger with Paramount.
Billionaire Larry Ellison, a close Trump ally, has backed the media expansion. His son, David Ellison, leads it.
The deal took shape over the course of the year. In February, Paramount won the bidding war for Warner Bros. Some CNN employees responded by raising concerns about editorial independence.
A month later, a member of Trump’s Cabinet weighed in. “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in March.
April brought a private gathering. Trump, Hegseth and other administration officials attended an off-the-record dinner with David Ellison and other Paramount leaders.
The Justice Department approved the merger in June. The Wall Street Journal reported that career staffers at the department had expressed misgivings about the transaction.
The most recent development arrived Monday, when the incoming owners announced a leadership lineup. It keeps CNN’s top executive in place.
Mark Thompson will serve as chairman and editor-in-chief, and he will report to Skydance CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz.
Thompson has directed CNN for the past three years. Before that, he held top posts at the BBC and The New York Times Co.
His continued tenure was not guaranteed. Thompson had told employees he wanted to stay “if the circumstances are right.”
Sources familiar with the discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Thompson met with Paramount executives several times last week. The Wall Street Journal first reported that David Ellison had asked him to remain.
Thompson explained his choice in a Monday memo to CNN staff.
He told employees that the incoming owners support his digital strategy and view news as a business worth building. He then spelled out the first of two reasons for staying.
“First, I’m convinced that from David Ellison on down, Paramount Skydance leadership really does believe in news alongside entertainment as a top strategic opportunity for our new company. They’ve seen our digital strategy and are as excited about it as we are.”
His second reason concerned editorial authority. Thompson said he had secured assurances on that front after talking with the new leadership.
“And second, having now spoken to them at length of the topic, I have real confidence that they both understand and will fully support the principle and practice of the kind of independent news that CNN has always stood for,” Thompson wrote. “That’s why I will be leading CNN into this new chapter as it becomes one of Skydance’s suite of major media assets and global brands, and leading it as an independent editor-in-chief with the same responsibilities and prerogatives that I have now.”
The merger places CNN and Paramount’s CBS News under one corporate roof. Monday’s announcement, however, pointed to no immediate combination of the two news operations.
CBS News has already experienced leadership changes under David Ellison.
He acquired Paramount in August 2025, then bought The Free Press. He installed its co-founder, Bari Weiss, as editor-in-chief of CBS News.
