FCC Clears Gulf Funds for 49.5% Non-Voting Stake in Paramount-Warner Bros.
The Federal Communications Commission has cleared wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi to hold a 49.5 percent stake in a combined Paramount-Warner Bros. if the merger closes. Engadget
That is almost double the normal ceiling. The FCC usually limits foreign ownership in companies that broadcast over public airwaves to 25 percent. Paramount owns 28 TV stations using those airwaves, which is why the proposed combination falls under Commission review.
The ruling focuses on the form of ownership. The foreign stake would be held as Class B shares, a class of stock that carries economic interest without formal voting power, totaling about 49.5 percent in aggregate after the proposed investment, according to the ruling document. FCC DA-26-1001
Those shares would carry no official voting rights. The FCC stated the foreign entities "will not be able to wield any influence, let alone control, over decisions involving the Licensees."
Paramount-Warner Bros. had requested broader permission. It petitioned the FCC to allow foreign entities to own up to 100 percent of the company. The Commission did not grant that request. It requires Paramount-Warner Bros. to file another request before foreign groups can gain voting shares.
The decision came in FCC document DA 26-1001. It is a Declaratory Ruling, a formal statement of how the agency will apply its rules, providing that Paramount must obtain Commission approval before foreign ownership exceeds these terms. Paramount filed the underlying petition on April 24, 2026.
Under the ruling, the Gulf funds can provide almost half the equity but cannot vote it. The licensed stations remain under domestic voting control.
The broader context here is how broadcast regulation handles capital-intensive deals. A large non-voting position lets a media combination tap deep pools of foreign equity while keeping the decision rights the ownership rules were written to protect. Any shift from non-voting to voting triggers a new filing and fresh review.
In my view, this fits a pattern I have covered for decades. Distribution systems built on a scarce public resource, here spectrum and broadcast licenses, tend to keep a strict control test even as financing globalizes. Money crosses borders more easily than control does. For readers used to tech cap tables, where preferred shares and dual-class stock are routine, those tools carry regulatory weight here.
Looking ahead, what this enables, if the merger closes under these terms, is a large-scale media combination partly funded by foreign non-voting equity while licensed stations stay under domestic voting control. That is the balance the FCC has struck.
