Tucker Carlson walked away from $25 million left on his contract with Fox News, which was tied to a noncompete clause that would have kept him out of the news and analysis business until January 2024. Instead, the former host of Tucker Carlson Tonight at Fox News will broadcast directly from Twitter, with the blessing of Twitter majority owner Elon Musk and with some of his former staffers, who are coming with him.
Carlson made the announcement today on Twitter in a video announcement that was viewed over 5 million times in its first four hours.
Fox fired Carlson two weeks ago, and on Tuesday, Carlson sent a letter to Fox saying the company had breached his contract.
Axios has reported that Carlson and Musk are also in talks about creating a new media platform. He has turned several offers worth millions of dollars over the past week, instead opting for the free speech platform at Twitter.
Twitter has 450 million active users, and Carlson has 7 million followers. Carlson, who lives in Maine and had been hosting his nightly brand of conservative analysis from his home, is said to be worth $30 million.
The New York Times speculated that the video posted by Carlson could be a violation of his contract with Fox.
“Mr. Carlson’s remarks on Tuesday, posted on Twitter — a platform run by Elon Musk, a provocateur in a similar mold as the combative, contrarian host — consisted of a three-minute monologue delivered directly to the camera. The video could violate the terms of his contract with Fox, which prevent Mr. Carlson from hosting a show on an alternate network,” the newspaper speculated.
