Billionaire Media Ownership
How the ultra-wealthy control the media narrative
Billionaires with Media Empires
Media ownership is one of the most powerful ways billionaires influence public opinion, particularly on issues like climate change and economic policy. Below is a comprehensive list of billionaires who control significant media assets worldwide.
Global Media Moguls
Rupert Murdoch
- Fox News
- The Times (UK)
- The Wall Street Journal
- The Sun (UK)
- The Australian
- New York Post
Viscount Rothermere
- Daily Mail
- Mail on Sunday
- Metro
- i newspaper
Alexander Lebedev
- The Independent
- Evening Standard
Richard Desmond
- OK! Magazine
- Previously owned Channel 5 and Express Newspapers
Bill Gates
- Microsoft
- Major investments in various media platforms
Elon Musk
- X / Twitter
Jeff Bezos
- The Washington Post
- Amazon Prime Video
Mark Zuckerberg
American Media Owners
Carlos Slim
- New York Times (major shareholder)
Warren Buffett
- Berkshire Hathaway (owns 70+ daily newspapers)
Eric Schmidt
- Google (former CEO, major shareholder)
Sulzberger family
- New York Times
Michael Bloomberg
- Bloomberg Media
John Henry
- The Boston Globe
Glen Taylor
- Star Tribune
Patrick Soon-Shiong
- Los Angeles Times
Sheldon Adelson
- Las Vegas Review-Journal
Joe Mansueto
- Inc. and Fast Company
Laurene Powell Jobs
- The Atlantic
Mark Benioff
- Time Magazine
Cox family
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mortimer Zuckerman
- New York Daily News
Barbey family
- Village Voice
Stanley Hubbard
- Hubbard Broadcasting
Chatchaval Jiaravanon
- Fortune Magazine
European Media Owners
Patrick Drahi
- Liberation
- L'Express
Dassault Family
- Le Figaro
John Elkann
- Dicembre
Hubert Burda
- German owner (600+ media companies)
Friede Springer
- Axel Springer SE (Bild, Die Welt)
Rodolphe Saade
- BFM-TV
- La Tribune
Vincent Bollore
- Le Journal Dimanche
- CNews
Berlusconi family
- Il Giornale
- Mediaset
Impact on Public Discourse
These media holdings allow billionaires to:
- Control the Narrative on key issues affecting their wealth and business interests
- Marginalize Critical Voices that call for greater regulation or taxation
- Promote Political Allies who support their economic interests
- Shape Public Opinion on climate change, often downplaying the severity or human causes
- Set the Agenda by determining which stories receive coverage and which are ignored
By understanding who owns the media we consume, we can better evaluate the information we receive and identify potential biases in coverage of environmental and economic issues.