# Tucker Carlson Network The **Tucker Carlson Network** (TCN) is the subscription video company [[Tucker Carlson]] built after Fox News fired him in April 2023. He co-founded it with [[Neil Patel]], his partner from the [[Daily Caller]], through a Nevada company called Last Country Inc. It is now one of the largest independent outlets on the right. It is also a center of the right's internal fights over Russia, Israel, Qatar and antisemitism. ## Money - **Seed round (October 17, 2023).** TCN raised about **$15 million** as a SAFE (a deal that converts into shares later), led by [[1789 Capital]], the firm co-founded by [[Omeed Malik]]. The other investors were never named. - **Launch (December 11, 2023).** The subscription service went live at $9 a month or $72 a year. - **Buyout (2025).** [[Axios]] reported on **June 13, 2025** that Carlson and Patel had bought out every outside investor, 1789 included, at a profit, and that the company would take no outside money from then on. Reuters later reported that Patel bought out 1789's stake "in March" 2025, so the deal may have closed before it was announced. Carlson's explanation: "It's hard to claim you're independent when other people own your company." - **ALP.** Axios credits the buyout partly to **ALP**, a nicotine-pouch brand announced November 11, 2024 and owned 50/50 by TCN and Turning Point Brands through ALP Supply Co. LLC. - **Scale.** TCN has never disclosed subscriber counts. Its own April 2026 press release claims an average of 56.8 million views per episode, a figure no one has checked independently. ## The interviews that defined it - **Vladimir Putin (released February 8, 2024).** The first Western interview with [[Vladimir Putin]] since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. - **Darryl Cooper (September 2, 2024).** The amateur historian called Churchill "the chief villain" of the Second World War. This was the first major rupture between Carlson and the pro-Israel right. - **[[Nick Fuentes]] (October 27, 2025).** A friendly interview with the white-nationalist streamer. On October 30, Heritage president [[Kevin Roberts]] posted a video defending Carlson, and the [[Heritage Foundation]] then went into crisis: - [[Robert P. George]] left Heritage's board on November 17, 2025, and two more trustees followed in December. - More than a dozen staff left or were fired, and 13 of them moved to Advancing American Freedom. ## Qatar: documented versus alleged Critics on the right, including [[Laura Loomer]] and [[Mark Levin]], call the outlet "Qatarlson." What is documented is narrower: - Foreign-agent (FARA) filings show Qatar paying the PR firm Lumen8 Advisors **$180,000 a month**, and that firm arranged Carlson's interview with Qatar's prime minister. The filings do not show any payment to Carlson or TCN. - At the Doha Forum in December 2025, Carlson said he was buying a home in Qatar and had "never taken anything from your country." [[Ted Cruz]] attacked the home purchase. See [[Qatari Influence]] and [[Qatar]]. ## 2026: the break with Trump and the Vance problem Carlson split with Trump over the [[Iran War 2026]], which began February 28 (per Wikipedia's account of the feud, citing TIME, ABC and Variety). In August 2026, 1789's Malik and [[Chris Buskirk]], with [[Donald Trump Jr.]], hosted a Southampton fundraiser for [[JD Vance]] that raised more than $5 million for the RNC. Loomer and Levin attacked Vance for taking money from TCN's original funder, and on August 22 Trump called Carlson "totally irrelevant" (Mediaite). TCN's 2023 seed round is now an issue in the 2028 succession fight: Vance's critics on the right use it to tie him to Carlson. ## See Also - [[Tucker Carlson]] · [[Neil Patel]] · [[Daily Caller]] - [[1789 Capital]] · [[Omeed Malik]] · [[Juul]] (the nicotine through-line) - [[Heritage Foundation]] · [[Kevin Roberts]] · [[Nick Fuentes]] · [[Antisemitism]] - [[Qatari Influence]] · [[JD Vance]]