What would a new media empire built by Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk look like?
Well, we don’t know yet but we may be about to find out.
According to sources who spoke exclusively to Axios, the former Fox News host and billionaire entrepreneur have had some discussions of late after Carlson was unceremoniously taken off the air by the network about two weeks ago.
“Axios has learned Carlson is busy plotting a media empire of his own. But he needs Fox to let him out of his contract, which expires in January 2025 — after the presidential election,” the outlet reported.
“Axios has learned that Carlson and Elon Musk had a conversation about working together, but didn’t discuss specifics,” the report notes further.
According to an Axios report, Carlson is reportedly moving closer to permitting his closest allies to publicly criticize Fox News for keeping him under contract, which would pay him $20 million annually to remain sidelined until January 2025.
That is beyond the 2024 election, and apparently, Carlson doesn’t want to be muted the entire cycle.
Carlson’s high-profile attorney Bryan Freedman, who recently was also retained by fired CNN co-host Don Lemon, said in a statement: “The idea that anyone is going to silence Tucker and prevent him from speaking to his audience is beyond preposterous.”
Insiders close to Carlson revealed that he is contemplating creating a subscription-based media company that would enable him to communicate directly with his audience, similar to the approach adopted by former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.
We don’t know if anything will come of Carlson’s chat with Musk, but if anyone can help him build a new media empire, it’s the Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter boss.
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.