Indian American Republican Neil Patel is CEO of Tucker Carlson’s New Streaming Network
- A co-founder of the conservative website, Daily Caller, Patel has been a long-time collaborator of his college roommate who was the star of Fox News till he was fired early this year.
Conservative news website Daily Caller co-founder and publisher Neil Patel will be the chief executive officer of a new streaming service launched by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. In making the announcement today (Dec. 11), Carlson said his team will “tell the unadorned truth” through commentary, interviews, Carlson-flavored news reports and documentaries. The new venture comes more than seven months after Fox abruptly fired its most popular host.
Patel told Reuters that the site is currently open for membership pre-sales. “Once we are comfortable that all of the systems are running well, launch and brand release will follow,” he added.
Tucker Carlson Network, will cost “$9 a month — or $72 for a year — and will initially be solely available through Carlson’s website,” The Wall Street Journal reported. It will be anchored by longer versions of the free videos that Carlson has been posting regularly on X, since shortly after his departure from Fox News. “Some of the content is available without a subscription and will be ad-supported, while some interviews and monologues will be available exclusively to subscribers, who will have access to that content without ads,” the report added.
Before starting his two companies, Patel served in the White House as the chief policy adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, and was later his staff secretary.
Carlson and Patel were roommates at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. They graduated in 1991, and in 2010 teamed up to establish the Daily Caller. It was founded as a conservative counter to The Huffington Post, The Hill reported at the time. Carlson was editor-in-chief of the site until 2016. He became the host of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Fox News in 2017. Patel ran the business side of the news organization. “The only reason the Daily Caller still exists is because the guy running it is one of the very rare conservative intellectuals who understands business,” Carlson said of Patel to the Journal. “There’s no magic secret, as far as I know, other than he keeps costs in line with revenue.”
Carlson sold his stake in the Daily Caller in June 2020. “I’m just too absorbed in what I’m doing,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “I wasn’t helping in any way, because I’ve got an hour to do every night [on Fox News].” Patel told the Journal he bought out Carlson’s roughly one-third stake in the company.
Who is Neil Patel
Before co-founding The Daily Caller, Patel was a longtime deputy to Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former chief of staff to Dick Cheney, the vice president under former president George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009. Libby was indicted in October 2005 on charges of obstruction of justice, false statement and perjury in connection with the disclosure of the identity of CIA officer, Valerie Plame. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000. Although President George W. Bush had commuted his prison sentence, former president Donald Trump pardoned the Libby in 2018.
After working for Libby, Patel became the chief policy advisor to Cheney. He represented the vice president at economic and domestic policy meetings, managed policy staff and oversaw the movement of classified documents to Cheney. The Bush White House nominated Patel to run the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the government agency that advises the president on the telecommunications industry. He was not confirmed.
Earlier in his career, Patel practiced law with Dechert Price & Rhoads. He also served as Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People’s Republic of China. He received his B.A. from Trinity College in Connecticut and his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as associate editor of the Journal of Law and Policy in International Business. He lives in Washington, D.C., and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with his wife, Amy, their two daughters, Caroline and Bela, and their son, Charlie.