TLDR: The big media companies and social media companies are mostly owned and controlled by ultra wealthy members of society.

These media companies are entities that exist to serve the interests of their owners. They are tools used to spread information that benefits the people that own them.

"It's a big club, and you ain't in it. You and I are not in the big club. By the way it's the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe, all day long beating you over the head in their media, telling you what to believe, what to think, and what to buy. The table is tilted, folks. The game is rigged." -George Carlin, 2005

The following is an incomplete list of major media and social media companies, and their owners.

CNBC

CNBC is owned by Comcast.
Comcast is a publicly traded company, ticker CMCSA, market cap ~ $150 billion.

Brian Roberts is the chairman and CEO, with a net worth of approximately $2 billion.

Comcast is 88% owned by institutional holders.

• 9.5% owned by The Vanguard Group
• 7.7% owned by BlackRock Inc

The Wall Street Journal

Owned by News Corp. News Corp is a publicly traded company, ticker NWSA. Market cap ~ $16 billion.

News Corp is 39% owned by Rupert Murdoch and the Murdoch family. Rupert Murdoch has a net worth of $18 billion and according to Forbes is the 97th richest person in the world.

News Corp is a sister company to Fox Corporation (Fox News). The Murdochs are also the main owners of Fox Corporation.

Bloomberg News

Owned by Bloomberg L.P., a private company 88% owned by Michael Bloomberg.

Michael Bloomberg is the 7th richest person in the world with a net worth of $95 billion.

The New York Times

Owned by: The New York Times Company, a publicly traded company, ticker NYT. Market cap ~ $7 billion.

NYT is 92% owned by institutions.

• 9.6% owned by The Vanguard Group
• 8.5% owned by BlackRock

The Washington Post

On August 5, 2013, Bezos announced his purchase of The Washington Post for $250 million in cash. Jeff Bezos is the third richest person in the world with a net worth of $114 billion.

Reuters

Owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation --> $85 billion dollar (Canadian) market cap.

67% owned by The Woodbridge Company. The main person, David Thomson, has a net worth of $58 billion, the #21 richest person in the world.

Warner Bros. Discovery

Publicly traded company, stock ticker WBD, market cap ~ $25 billion.

CNN is one of the major media channels owned by WBD.

WBD ownership:

• 10% owned by The Vanguard Group
• 8% owned by Advance Publications
• 6.5% owned by BlackRock
• 5% owned by State Street Corporation

Facebook / Meta Platforms

Publicly traded company, market cap ~ $850 billion.

14% owned by Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg has a net worth of ~ $65 billion, and is currently the 16th richest person in the world.

X (formerly Twitter)

owned by X Corp which is owned by Elon Musk.

Elon Musk: Net worth $180 Billion, #2 richest person in the world.

On October 27, 2022, Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion.

Reddit

Reddit is 30% owned by Advanced Publications, a private company owned by Newhouse Family.
Donald Newhouse has a net worth of $11 billion, the #161 richest person in the world.

Fidelity Investments also owns a ~ $700 million stake in the company.

Some of those financial institutions that own the media:

The Vanguard Group

Financial services company with $8 trillion assets under management.

The Vanguard group has an unusual ownership structure where "Vanguard is technically owned by its customers. As the company states, the fund shareholders own the funds, which in turn own Vanguard."

CEO: Mortimer Buckley, net worth estimated around $50 million.

BlackRock Inc

Publicly traded company, ticker BLK, market cap ~ $100 billion. Has $8.5 trillion assets under management.

Run by: Larry Fink, net worth $1 billion.

Main holders:

• 8.5% - The Vanguard Group

• 6.5% - Blackrock

Fidelity Investments

Assets under management: $11.7 Trillion

owned by:

• 49% Abigail Johnson,

• 51% current and former employees

Abigail Johnson: net worth $25 billion, #60 richest person.

State Street Corporation

$3.6 trillion assets under management.

• 12% owned by Vanguard

• 8.3% owned by BlackRock

• 4.85% owned by State Street

One more quote from George Carlin:

“You don't need a formal conspiracy when interests converge. These people went to the same universities and fraternities. They're on the same boards of directors. They're in the same country clubs. They have like interests. They don't need to call a meeting. They know what's good for them. And they're getting it.”