The Free Press, a news media outlet on Substack backed by VC heavyweights Marc Andreessen and David Sacks, has been acquired by Paramount Skydance for an estimated $150 million.
In the often bare VC-backed news media space, The Free Press’ exit is a recent standout. It’s also one of newsletter publishing company Substack’s most notable success stories.
Founded by Bari Weiss in 2021 as Common Sense after she resigned as a New York Times opinion writer and editor, the Substack newsletter rebranded as The Free Press and quickly grew into a full-fledged media organization with a robust staff and several podcasts.
As part of the deal, Weiss will become CBS News’ editor-in-chief. The acquisition is also the first major purchase since Skydance completed its $8 billion merger with Paramount in August.
Annox Capital, Centre Street Partners, Bobby Kotick and Howard Schultz have also backed the digital publication, which boasts 1.5 million subscribers, including 170,000 paid subscribers. The Free Press last raised $15 million at a $100 million valuation in September 2024.
Substack, a startup offering a digital publishing platform for writers and journalists, had forged a special partnership with The Free Press to offer more sophisticated tools and features for organizations that have gained traction on the platform. The Free Press has been one of Substack’s most subscribed newsletters, ranking as the top paid newsletter in the US politics category.
In July, Substack raised a $100 million Series C at a $1.1 billion valuation from Bond, Andreessen Horowitz and others.
The Paramount and Free Press deal is the most high-profile and largest acquisition of a Substack newsletter since Puck purchased Artelligence for an undisclosed amount in April 2024.
Not since 2022 have media startups seen such large buyouts.
In January of 2022, The New York Times bought The Athletic, a sports media outfit backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective and Y Combinator, for $550 million.
Axios, a digital news organization founded in 2016 and best known for its succinct, concise style, was bought by Cox Enterprises for $525 million in August 2022. It had venture funding from Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Greycroft Partners, Emerson Collective and others.
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