General Discussion

The database billionaire and his son, David, are Trump favorites. The family could soon control an empire that includes CBS, Paramount, Warner, CNN and a piece of TikTok.

TikTok is just one part of the rapidly expanding Ellison family media portfolio. Mr. Ellison’s son, David, who recently secured an $8 billion deal for Paramount and CBS and is busy putting his own stamp on them, is widely reported to be preparing a much bigger bid for Warner, which includes CNN.

At any other time, the regulatory hurdles to owning TikTok, CBS and CNN along with a major swath of Hollywood would have been insurmountable. This is a decidedly different era, where being in the good graces of Mr. Trump counts for a great deal. The president said in January that he would like Elon Musk, then a close adviser, or Mr. Ellison to buy TikTok.

Powerful families have owned influential chunks of American media in the last century, but their reach was often limited by geography or other factors. The Chandler family, owners of The Los Angeles Times, held sway in Southern California for decades, but had little power elsewhere. Rupert Murdoch owns Fox and The Wall Street Journal, but their editorial missions do not entirely overlap.

In the digital era, the constraints are dissolving.