Congressional Democrats are sounding alarms over the deep involvement of Saudi Arabian and other Middle Eastern royal families in Paramount’s proposed bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

Warner Bros. Discovery owns CNN, HBO and the historic Warner Bros. film and television studios in Burbank, behind such beloved American classics as “Casablanca,” “Citizen Kane,” and Bugs Bunny, and blockbuster hits including “Harry Potter,” “Dirty Harry,” “The Matrix,” and “Friends.”

Late last week, the Larry Ellison controlled Paramount came up short in the bidding for Warner Bros., in part, over the Warner board’s concerns about Paramount’s deal financing. On Monday, Paramount launched a hostile takeover of Warner Bros., appealing directly to Warner shareholders — asking them to sell their Warner stock to Paramount for $30 a share.

On Wednesday, Paramount sent a letter to Warner shareholders asking that they tender their shares, which would allow Paramount to acquire the company through its hostile takeover.

In the letter to Warner shareholders, Ellison’s son, David, who is Paramount’s chairman, wrote: “Our public offer ... delivers superior value and a faster, more certain path to completion than the transaction announced with Netflix.”

It added that Paramount’s offer would be “financed by $41 billion of new equity backstopped by the Ellison family and RedBird Capital and $54 billion of debt commitments from Bank of America, Citi and Apollo.”

It did not disclose that the sovereign wealth funds were the majority of the new equity.

Paramount’s gambit has thrown the auction, and Warner board’s selection of Netflix’s $72 billion deal, into doubt.

Paramount has long insisted that it represents the best partner for Warner Bros., in part, because of the Ellison family’s cozy relations with President Trump. The company has trumpeted its ability to gain the blessing of the Trump administration.

Paramount’s bid is heavily backed by Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar’s sovereign wealth funds. The three royal families have agreed to contribute $24 billion — twice the amount the Larry Ellison family has agreed to provide in financing for Paramount’s proposed $78-billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to regulatory filings.

Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner’s private equity firm, Affinity Partners, would also have an ownership stake.

On Wednesday, U.S. Reps. Sam T. Liccardo, D-California, and Ayanna Pressley, D-Massachusetts, called on Warner Bros. board to recognize the consequences of selling the legendary company, which includes news organization CNN, to billionaire foreign rulers.

“This transaction raises national security concerns because it could transfer substantial influence over one of the largest American media companies to foreign-backed financiers,” Liccardo and Pressley wrote to Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav.

“Warner’s platforms reach tens of millions of American households through HBO, Max, CNN, Warner Bros. Pictures, Discovery, and numerous digital and cable properties,” the lawmakers wrote. “They also shape the news, entertainment, and cultural content consumed by the American public.”

The concerns adds a new wrinkle to the Warner Bros. auction, which already had political overtones. Trump has said he planned to be involved in the decision-making, and he’s offered praise for both Larry and David Ellison and Netflix co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos, who has visited with the president leading up to last week’s auction deadline.

Transactions “foreign investors with governance rights, access to non-public data, or indirect influence over content distribution (create) vulnerabilities that foreign governments could exploit,” the lawmakers wrote. They asked the Warner board, should it opt for Paramount, to agree to a federal review of the transaction to determine whether the involvement of the Middle Eastern investors would pose a national security risk. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent would lead any such review.

Paramount, in its regulatory filings, said the three Middle Eastern families had agreed to give up voting rights and a role in the company’s decision-making — despite contributing more than half the equity needed for the deal.

Paramount has said it would not be required to submit the proposed Warner transaction to the federal Committee on Foreign Investments in the U.S., or CFIUS, because the sovereign wealth funds have waived their governance rights, should the Ellison family prevail in the bidding for Warner Bros.

“Paramount might not need CFIUS but the American people do,” Liccardo said in an interview with The Times. “We need to ask ourselves: What is of value that would command a $24 billion investment from three royal families?”

Traditional film and TV production companies are part of “an industry that is struggling mightily,” Liccardo said. “So if you look at an acquisition like this ... if not for the going concern, what particular assets are of value? Consider the sensitive personal data of tens of millions of Americans, and ask how valuable that data might be?”

Representatives of Warner Bros. and Paramount declined to comment.

The Ellison family acquired Paramount in August. David Ellison, the chief executive, attended a White House dinner last month to celebrate Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The involvement of Mohammed and his Saudi Public Investment Fund was concerning to the two lawmakers.

“The fund is controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom (according to the declassified 2021 report of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence) ordered the murder of U.S. resident and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” the lawmakers wrote.

They noted that Kushner’s Affinity Partners was also backed by a $2 billion investment from the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Paramount has not disclosed how much Kushner would contribute to the Paramount-Warner deal.

Liccardo’s Northern California district includes Los Gatos, where Netflix is based. Liccardo, in the interview, said Netflix was unaware of his effort until after the letter was drafted.

Over the weekend, Trump said the proposed Netflix purchase, which would give the streaming company an even more commanding presence in the industry, “could be a problem.” The president on Wednesday said he wanted CNN to be included in the deal because he doesn’t trust “the people that are running that company right now.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, has voiced concerns about Netflix’s dominance should it acquire Warner.

“The Netflix purchase of Warner Bros. would be a disaster,” Murphy wrote on X last weekend. “It’s patently illegal. But there are some quietly rooting for it because a Paramount takeover (that includes CNN) would be worse.”

©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.