Mark Thompson will remain president of CNN while Ellisons will take control of Warner Bros. Discovery

Mark Thompson, who has led CNN for three years, will remain at the helm of the company as the Ellison family acquires the news network’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.

With the merger of Paramount and Warner set to take effect Tuesday, the combined company, named Skydance, will announce its management team Monday morning. Thompson remains in place as president and editor-in-chief of CNN, reporting to Skydance CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz.

The announcement ends months of uncertainty linked to the politically charged media mega-merger. It also indicates that there will be no immediate combination of CNN with Paramount’s CBS News unit.

In a memo to CNN staff Monday, Thompson wrote: “First, I am confident that from David Ellison to the executives at Paramount Skydance, they truly believe in news and entertainment as a major strategic opportunity for our new company. They have seen our digital strategy and are as excited as we are.”

“And second, after speaking to them at length about the subject, I am confident that they both understand and will fully support the principle and practice of the type of independent reporting that CNN has always stood for,” Thompson wrote. “That’s why I will lead CNN in this new chapter as it becomes one of Skydance’s premier media assets and global brands, and lead it as an independent editor-in-chief with the same responsibilities and prerogatives that I currently have.”

Thompson, who ran the BBC and The New York Times Co. before joining CNN in 2023, had told staff he wanted to stay on “if circumstances permit.”

Thompson held several meetings with Paramount executives last week, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. The Wall Street Journal was first to report that David Ellison had asked Thompson to stay, auguring CNN’s stability in a volatile time for the news media.

When Paramount won the bidding war for Warner last February, CNN employees expressed serious concerns about the Ellisons’ ability to maintain editorial independence at one of the world’s largest news organizations.

Supreme Patriarch Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest men, has been a close ally of President Donald Trump, who said last December that “it is imperative that CNN be sold.”

Trump indicated he saw the change in ownership as a way for him to exert control over media coverage, as did his allies. “The sooner David Ellison takes over this network, the better,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last March.

Trump, Hegseth and other officials attended an informal dinner with David Ellison and other Paramount executives in April. Officials at Trump’s Justice Department gave the green light to the merger in June despite misgivings from career staff, according to the Journal.

David Ellison’s changes at CBS News also caused consternation. Shortly after acquiring Paramount in August 2025, it acquired The Free Press website and named co-founder Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News.

Weiss-led shakeups in the network’s news division led to months of bad press, allegations of managerial ineptitude and rumors that Ellison had miscast her in the role. Several ousted correspondents accused Weiss of unduly interfering with their work, although Weiss denied this.

As CBS’ major newscasts continued to struggle with ratings, Weiss and his deputies won numerous stories and launched new businesses, including podcasts and live events. And despite Paramount’s attempts to present a pro-Trump face, CBS News continued to publish hard-hitting stories, particularly about the Trump administration.

During the tug-of-war over the Warner merger, David Ellison praised CNN and said “editorial independence will absolutely be preserved.”

Still, many opponents of the merger warned that the Ellison family could not be trusted with a news asset like CNN. Some of the Democratic attorneys general who filed an antitrust lawsuit in July to block the deal have openly criticized Weiss and his actions at CBS.

Monday’s announcement indicates that Weiss will not be responsible for overseeing CNN for the foreseeable future. However, he did not answer any specific questions about a merger of CNN and CBS News.

“The details of how CNN will fit and operate in the new company have yet to be finalized – which is not surprising given that serious discussions could only begin after Paramount’s antitrust settlement a few days ago,” Thompson wrote in his memo.

David Ellison and his entourage have been working to consolidate Skydance’s management team and launch the new company since September 21, when the attorneys general agreed to settle their antitrust lawsuit.

The agreement called for the creation of a five-member “editorial independence council” overseeing CBS News and CNN. The board is expected to uphold editorial standards and resolve disputes, according to the terms of the regulations. Skydance has six months to appoint board members.

Once the merger takes effect on Tuesday, Skydance will face intense pressure to cut costs, with the combined company saddled with a huge debt load.

At the same time, Skydance will rely on cash flow from profitable channels like CNN to support its restructuring, giving it good reason to avoid disrupting the network while growing its digital business.

Thompson wrote in his memo: “I know many of you have been apprehensive about this moment. That’s understandable – indeed, as I’ve already hinted, I’ve had a strange moment or two myself! But I want to say that on the eve of CNN’s acquisition by Paramount Skydance, I find myself in a very positive frame of mind. I truly believe that we will be working alongside a team that not only has a true vision and real energy, but also real values.”