If you’ve spent any time scrolling through social media or watching the news lately, you’ve probably heard some wild rumors about who owns CNN now. Some people swear it’s still Ted Turner’s baby. Others think it’s secretly run by a tech billionaire or a specific political party.
Honestly? The reality is much more "corporate" than the conspiracy theories. It’s also a bit of a moving target right here in early 2026.
As of right now, CNN is a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). But saying "WBD owns it" is only half the story. To really get what’s happening, you have to look at the massive corporate divorce and the bidding wars currently tearing Hollywood apart.
The Current Power Players: Who Really Owns CNN Now?
Warner Bros. Discovery is the big name on the letterhead. This company was born in 2022 when AT&T decided it was done with the entertainment business and spun off WarnerMedia to merge with Discovery, Inc.
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It was a messy marriage from the start.
Currently, David Zaslav is the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. He’s the one calling the shots, cutting costs, and trying to figure out how to make a cable news network profitable in an era where everyone is cutting the cord. Under him, Sir Mark Thompson—the former big boss at the BBC and The New York Times—serves as the Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide.
The Institutional "Owners"
Since WBD is a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq (under the ticker WBD), "ownership" is actually spread across thousands of investors. If you have a 401(k), you might technically be a tiny part-owner of CNN.
The heavy hitters holding the most shares include:
- The Vanguard Group: They usually hold the top spot, owning around 10-11% of the company.
- BlackRock: Another massive asset manager with a roughly 7% stake.
- State Street Corporation: They hold about 6.8% through various index funds.
So, when you ask who owns CNN now, you're really talking about a massive web of institutional investors and a board of directors led by Zaslav.
The 2026 Split: "Discovery Global" and the Netflix Factor
Things are getting weird. If you follow the money, you’ll see that Warner Bros. Discovery is currently in the middle of a massive structural split.
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David Zaslav announced a plan to divide the company into two separate entities by April 2026. This is the "strategic separation" everyone in business is buzzing about.
The Plan:
The high-growth stuff—like HBO, Max (the streaming service), and the Warner Bros. movie studio—is being packaged together into one company.
The "Global Linear Networks"—which is basically the old-school cable channels like Discovery, HGTV, Food Network, and CNN—are being spun off into a new entity currently dubbed Discovery Global.
The Netflix Twist:
To make things even more complicated, Netflix has emerged as a victor in a bidding war to acquire the "Streaming and Studios" half of the company for over $82 billion. This deal is expected to close in late 2026.
What does that mean for CNN? It means CNN will likely end up as a cornerstone of the "Discovery Global" company, led by WBD's current CFO, Gunnar Wiedenfels. It’s being separated from its "prestige" siblings like HBO so it can focus on being a cash-generating news and sports powerhouse.
A Quick History of Who Owned CNN Before
To understand why everyone is so confused about who owns CNN now, you have to look at its chaotic family tree. It has changed hands more times than a hot potato.
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- The Ted Turner Era (1980–1996): Ted Turner founded CNN as the first 24-hour news channel. He was the face of the network until he sold Turner Broadcasting System to Time Warner.
- The Time Warner / AOL Disaster (1996–2018): This was the era of "mega-mergers." Time Warner merged with AOL in 2001 in what is now considered one of the worst business deals in history. CNN survived, but the corporate overhead was a nightmare.
- The AT&T Blip (2018–2022): AT&T bought Time Warner (renaming it WarnerMedia) because they wanted content to fuel their data plans. They realized pretty quickly that running a movie studio and a news network is a lot harder than selling cell phone contracts.
- The Warner Bros. Discovery Era (2022–Present): AT&T bailed, merging WarnerMedia with Discovery. This brought us to the current Zaslav era.
Why the Ownership Matters to You
You might think, "Who cares which billionaire owns the channel?"
But ownership dictates the editorial direction. Under David Zaslav and Mark Thompson, there has been a very public push to move CNN back toward the "center." They want to shed the "resistance news" label it picked up during the late 2010s and focus more on hard reporting and global reach.
They’ve also integrated "CNN Max" into the streaming world, trying to find a way for news to survive when nobody wants to pay for a cable box anymore.
What’s Next? Actionable Steps for the Curious
If you want to keep tabs on where CNN is headed, there are a few things you can do instead of just guessing:
- Watch the WBD Stock: If the ticker WBD fluctuates wildly, it’s usually because of news regarding the 2026 split or the Netflix merger.
- Follow Mark Thompson’s Memos: As the CEO of CNN Worldwide, his internal notes (which usually leak to the press) reveal the actual strategy for the newsroom.
- Monitor the FTC: The Federal Trade Commission is currently scrutinizing the Netflix-WBD deal. If they block it, the ownership of CNN could be thrown into another tailspin.
- Look for "Discovery Global" filings: Once the spin-off happens in April 2026, CNN will have a new corporate parent with its own financial disclosures. That’s where the real truth about their budget and "bias" will live.
The era of a single "mogul" like Ted Turner owning a news network is basically over. CNN is now a piece on a much larger chessboard, being moved around by streaming giants and institutional investors who care more about "EBITDA" than "breaking news."
If you're looking for the simple answer, Warner Bros. Discovery owns CNN. But if you're looking for the real answer, it's currently a company in transition, waiting to see if it can stand on its own two feet in the Discovery Global spin-off.
Practical Insights:
The media landscape in 2026 is all about consolidation. Keep an eye on the April 2026 deadline for the WBD split. This will be the definitive moment when CNN officially moves out of the Warner Bros. house and into the new Discovery Global entity. If you are an investor, this "stub" company (Discovery Global) will likely offer high dividends but face the challenge of a shrinking cable market. If you're a viewer, expect more "lifestyle" crossovers between CNN and Discovery-branded content as they try to keep you in their ecosystem.