On Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) raised alarm over the concentration of media power in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy individuals.
Sanders Warns of Media Oligarchy in the United States
Sanders took it to X to outline his concerns, noting that in authoritarian societies, the media is often controlled by a small group.
He then drew parallels with the United States, pointing out that Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk owns X, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg controls Facebook and Instagram“The Ellisons,” own shares in CBS and they are looking CNN and TikTok’s US operations and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos own Twitch and The Washington Post.
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When Sanders referred to “the Ellisons,” he was pointing Paramount Skydance Corp. (NASDAQ:PSKY) CEO David Ellison and his father, Larry Ellisonthe co-founder and CTO of Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL).
“We must fight the oligarchy,” Sanders wrote.
In an authoritarian society, a small number of oligarchs own media.
Here’s where we are in America:
Musk has an X.
Zuckerberg owns Facebook and Instagram.
The Ellisons own CBS — and are looking at CNN and TikTok.
Bezos owns Twitch and the Washington Post.We must fight the oligarchy.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) November 25, 2025
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Musk Soars $442 Billion As Tech Leaders Control Top Net Worth Rankings
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the technology sector continues to dominate the ranks of the world’s richest.
Musk leads the list with an estimated net worth of $442 billion. Oracle’s Ellison ranks fourth at $254 billion, while Bezos is close behind at $251 billion.
Zuckerberg is ranked sixth in the Index with a net worth of $225 billion.
The Social Media Landscape Shows Concentration
Data from Statcounter GlobalStats highlights the dominance of these platforms in the United States: Facebook accounts for nearly 59% of social media use, Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) 16%, X 14%, Instagram 6% with YouTube, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google and Reddit Inc. (NYSE:RDDT) down 3% each.
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This article Bernie Sanders Highlights How Few Billionaires Like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos Are Controlling What Americans See originally appeared on Benzinga.com