Jeff Bezos Reportedly Eyes Buy of CNBC as Tech Billionaires Gobble Up Media

Jeff Bezos is considering shopping for the monetary information community CNBC, in response to a brand new report from the New York Submit, which cites nameless sources. Given the harm Bezos has already executed to the Washington Submit, anybody who values the knowledge they get from CNBC ought to in all probability be nervous.

An unnamed supply instructed the New York Post that Bezos shopping for CNBC would “align properly together with his pursuits,” and it might stay a “impartial voice.” CNBC is being offloaded by its mum or dad firm, Comcast, into a brand new publicly traded firm referred to as Versant by the tip of 2025. The corporate’s different cable TV networks, which embody MSNBC, SYFY, the Golf Channel, USA Community, and E!, may even be part of Versant.

The Each day Beast reported Wednesday {that a} supply “near Bezos” instructed the information outlet that he’s “not contemplating a bid to purchase CNBC,” however the man himself has not commented on the chance but. The Each day Beast denial can be only one line with no additional clarification.

Sources may insist to the New York Submit that Bezos solely desires CNBC as a “impartial voice” in his media portfolio, however anybody who thinks Bezos is above tinkering with the editorial content material of his media properties hasn’t been paying consideration. The 61-year-old Amazon founder bought the Washington Submit in 2013 for $250 million and, by all public accounts, didn’t mess with the day-to-day route of the newspaper. However that each one modified shortly earlier than the 2024 presidential election, when the Washington Submit editorial board deliberate to endorse then-Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate who was operating towards present President Donald Trump.

Bezos not solely spiked the endorsement of Harris however set about purging the writing employees of liberal voices on the opinion pages. Lately, writers like liberal columnist Jonathan Capehart, TikTok man Dave Jorgenson, and polling professional Philip Bump have left the paper, taking buyouts supplied to individuals who don’t need to be concerned within the new period of Bezos meddling.

These sorts of adjustments are any newspaper proprietor’s proper, however the shift has set off a wave of anger and outrage amongst individuals who see Trump’s presidency as a menace to the way forward for the US as a liberal democracy. In keeping with NPR, Bezos misplaced the newspaper about 250,000 subscribers within the span of per week after information broke in regards to the Harris endorsement, and he reportedly misplaced 75,000 more because the billionaire introduced that anybody who didn’t adhere to his specific ideology of “free markets and private liberties” ought to go away the storied media establishment.

Bezos additionally cozied as much as Trump, attending the president’s inauguration in January and extra lately assembly with the president on the White Home final week, in response to CNBC. The dude is outwardly all-in on the MAGA agenda of aggressive oligarchy.

Rumors lately circulated that Bezos could also be concerned with buying Condé Nast, the media firm that owns magazines like Vogue and Wired. There was hypothesis that Bezos may even simply carve out Vogue for his new bride, Lauren Sanchez, whom he married final month in Venice, Italy, a marriage that was met by protesters who didn’t admire his proximity to Trump.

At this level, it’s rumors and hypothesis. However typically rumors flip into actuality. And if Bezos buys CNBC, there’s a very good probability it may develop into the newest political instrument of a person price over $200 billion.