Bari Weiss, the founder of The Free Press, is looking to sell her digital outlet to David Ellison, the incoming buyer of CBS, as part of a multi-million dollar deal.
According to a report from The Financial Times, Weiss has met with Ellison about selling the business she founded nearly four years ago to the Skydance studio set to purchase Paramount, the parent company of CBS.
According to the report, Weiss, who founded the digital outlet after departing The New York Times, is looking for a valuation between $200 and $250 million for the startup.
The attempt to sell the business comes after Weiss conducted a round of fundraising of more than $15 million last year, which — at the time — valued the company at $100 million.
To put the desired valuation from Weiss into perspective, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos purchased The Washington Post for $250 million in 2013.
Weiss launched the digital outlet as a Substack newsletter in 2021. She later earned investments from the likes of Marc Andreessen and David Sacks, who were also in the news Wednesday for investing in Substack itself.
It remains to be seen what or how Skydance would utilize The Free Press, and if it would be in conjunction with CBS News.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
