Paramount Skydance on Monday confirmed that it will acquire The Free Press in a $150 million deal — and elevate its founder, Bari Weiss, to the top role as editor in chief of CBS News.
Weiss, 41, will run a new, debate-style program at the Tiffany network, similar to the debates that the Free Press — her buzzy, contrarian news site — streams on topics ranging “from immigration to the ethics of gene-editing embryos,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
The news site is known for railing against “woke” ideology and has been a strong supporter of Israel, staking itself on values of “honesty” and “independence” after Weiss outspokenly broke away from mainstream media.
The former New York Times opinion writer will report directly to David Ellison, chief executive of Paramount Skydance, as The Post exclusively reported last week.
She will be paired with CBS News president Tom Cibrowski, a former “Good Morning America” exec, confirming The Post’s earlier coverage.
While the new media company presented the pair as equals, their status is clear: While Weiss reports to Ellison, Cibrowski’s manager is George Cheeks, chair of TV media at Paramount and Skydance.
“We believe the majority of the country longs for news that is balanced and fact-based, and we want CBS to be their home,” Ellison said in a statement on Monday.
In a letter to all Paramount employees on Monday morning, he urged staffers to take a page out of the Free Press’ book when it comes to fact-based reporting – lamenting that “the temperature of our nation’s dialogue feels higher than ever.”
Ellison, son of billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, initially contacted Weiss earlier this year. Under her lead, the Free Press has grown to 1.5 million subscribers – including over 175,000 who pay for the content.
Five years ago, she resigned from her role as an opinion columnist and editor at the New York Times, writing: “The paper of record is, more and more, the record of those living in a distant galaxy, one whose concerns are profoundly removed from the lives of most people.”
She later wrote: “I knew I was done with the legacy media – and it was certainly done with me.”
Weiss will also continue in her roles as CEO and editor in chief at the Free Press.
In an email to Free Press readers, she described a growing divide with “an America-loathing far left” on one hand and “a history-erasing far-right” on the other.
“These extremes do not represent the majority of the country, but they have increasing power…Overlooked by all these so-called interlocutors are the enormous numbers of smart, politically mixed, pragmatic Americans,” she wrote.
“This is a country with 340 million people. We want our work to reach more of them, as quickly as possible. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity allows us to do that.”
The site is lifting its paywall – a $10 monthly charge – from Oct. 6 to Oct. 12 for a special “Free Week.” New subscribers will have full access to all Free Press content, including commentary, video debates and a nightly schedule of livestreams.
The details of the $150 million deal were not disclosed.
The transaction will likely include a mix of stock and cash and will include earn-out provisions to reach its full value, sources told The Post.
Weiss’ news site will remain a standalone property operating separately from CBS News, though it will be owned by Paramount, a source with knowledge of the deal told The Post. It is unknown whether the site could eventually be integrated into CBS News’ website.
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