"David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount Skydance the parent company of CBS has been trying to woo Weiss for more than a year, Byers said, with those talks accelerating in recent days. With Paramount securely in his pocket, David Ellison is on the verge of acquiring Bari Weiss's The Free Press and tossing her the keys to CBS News, Puck reported. The deal is on the 1-yard line, I'm told."
"(That was an absurd ask; The Free Press does $15 million in annual subscription revenue, and Bari's politically charged content makes it hard to scale the advertising business. Plus, there's no tech stackit's all on Substack.) Either way, it will land Weiss a king's ransom just a little over five years after her dramatic departure from the Times."
David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, is close to acquiring Bari Weiss's The Free Press and positioning her to guide the editorial direction of CBS News. Negotiations progressed over about a year and accelerated recently, with lawyers reportedly finalizing terms. The offer is expected to exceed a $100 million valuation but remain below a $200 million figure. The Free Press generates approximately $15 million in annual subscription revenue, operates on Substack without a proprietary tech stack, and faces limited advertising scalability due to politically charged content. The transaction would result in a substantial payout for Weiss roughly five years after leaving the New York Times.
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