Brendan Carr

Brendan Carr faces the most consequential media ownership decision in the FCC's recent history in the Paramount Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which entered foreign-ownership review following DOJ antitrust clearance on 12 June 2026. The combined deal carries a 49.5% total foreign stake, including 38.5% from Gulf sovereign funds: Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund at 15.1%, UAE sovereign funds at 12.8%, and the Qatar Investment Authority at 10.6%. Paramount asked the FCC to authorise foreign equity of up to 100%, four times the statutory 25% ceiling. Senators Booker, Schiff, and Warren set Carr a 1 July Deadline to notify Paramount the deal could not close until the review concluded; the Deadline lapsed with Carr saying he is waiting on the interagency Team Telecom committee (Justice, Homeland Security, Defense), which is running a 120-day review clock.

Carr served as an FCC commissioner from 2017, focusing on spectrum policy reform, rural broadband investment, and regulatory constraints on Chinese technology companies including TikTok. Before his commission career he worked at the FCC's general counsel's office and at a Washington law firm. President Trump appointed him FCC chair following the November 2024 election, making him the agency's most senior regulatory officer from January 2025.

Carr's decision will now land alongside two other Paramount-WBD tracks: 12 US state attorneys general sued on 13 July to block the merger outright, and the EU cleared the deal's Gulf financing under its Foreign Subsidies Regulation on 14 July while extending its separate merger-control decision to 22 July. A ruling permitting the current ownership structure would establish a template for Gulf investment across US broadcasters; a divestiture requirement could force restructuring of the deal or alter the Gulf stakes entirely. Either outcome shapes FCC posture on foreign capital in American media for a decade.