Despite her high-profile role as the head of CBS News, Bari Weiss is entering into a new dalliance with a conservative billionaire — leaving no doubt where her sympathies lie, according to a new report. Media watchdog Status has uncovered an expanding professional relationship between Weiss and Mathias Döpfner, the chief executive of Axel Springer, the German publishing conglomerate that owns outlets including Politico and Business Insider. Döpfner had previously attempted to recruit Weiss more than a year ago, an effort that failed, Natalie Korach of Status reported. Now Döpfner has invited Weiss to speak at the 2026 Axel Springer Award ceremony in Berlin, where she will share the stage honoring Peter Thiel, the billionaire tech investor and prominent Trump ally. Weiss has accepted the invitation and plans to attend the late September event, delivering remarks to both in-person attendees and livestream viewers. Neither Axel Springer nor CBS News representatives would comment on the arrangement. According to the report, the appointment signals a deepening professional alliance between Weiss and Döpfner that has persisted even after Axel Springer’s failed attempt to acquire Weiss’s outlet, The Free Press.
Korach wrote, “In the year since, Döpfner and Weiss have continued to cross paths across the media circuit, including at the POLITICO-CBS News gathering ahead of White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April, where they were seen mingling alongside other media executives and Donald Trump administration officials.”
Thiel’s selection as honoree reflects Döpfner’s broader “ideological repositioning,” with Status reporting that, over the past year, the executive has steered Axel Springer decisively rightward, completing acquisitions of conservative outlets like The Telegraph and exploring deals for right-leaning publications including The Dispatch. Döpfner has simultaneously “cultivated” stronger relationships with the Trump White House, including direct meetings with chief of staff Susie Wiles.
The decision to celebrate Thiel—whose track record includes backing ventures many in the journalism community view as hostile to press independence—sends a particular message at a moment when the Trump administration is intensifying attacks on media institutions, Status reported. The award ceremony represents yet another signal that Weiss continues aligning herself with an increasingly influential network of conservative billionaires reshaping the media landscape, Korach observed.
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