Salem Media, which offers conservative and Christian content via radio, digital media, streaming, podcasting, television and publishing, will be acquired by WaterStone, a Colorado Springs nonprofit that pioneered donor-advised funds.
Salem, which lost $35 million last year and lost $2.57 million in the first quarter of 2026, has seen declining ad revenue for its Christian content while its political revenue is rising on shows featuring Lara Trump, Hugh Hewitt, Larry Elder and Scott Jennings.
WaterStone, also known as The Christian Community Foundation, called the acquisition “venture philanthropy,” which invests charitable funds into “mission-aligned enterprises” rather than awarding grants.
Founded in 1980, WaterStone advises accounts worth $2 billion. CEO Ken Harrison aligns with Salem’s conservative ideology, as he showed in his efforts to resurrect Promise Keepers with pro-MAGA events featuring right-wing and GOP speakers.
In January, a donor with funds managed by WaterStone sued the nonprofit, claiming it failed to process his grant and cut off all contact. The case has attracted interest from the philanthropy community because it raises crucial questions about donor-advised funds, or DAFs like WaterStone.
The case “puts squarely at issue a question that has remained largely dormant in DAF practice: Whether a donor’s or successor advisor’s advisory privileges — though nonbinding — constitute a legal interest that must be honored in good faith by the sponsoring organization,” said legal expert Richard L. Fox.
DAFs have come under fire because they give donors immediate tax benefits even if their donations remain held in a DAF like WaterStone and are not granted to charitable organizations. The lawsuit could help establish new rules for the industry.
Salem faced its own legal problems over 2000 Mules, a popular and profitable film that promoted false claims of 2020 election fraud and was viewed on Christian TV networks and in hundreds of churches. The film claimed a Black man named Mark Andrews was one of 2,000 “mules” who submitted fake ballots that helped Joe Biden beat Donald Trump.
Screenshot from “2000 Mules”
Andrews sued Salem Media, film host Dinesh D’Souza and True the Vote, a nonprofit that originated the mules claims. Attorneys defending the film admitted in court they had no evidence to support the film’s wild fraud claims. Salem apologized, withdrew the film, which had earned $10 million, and sold off Regnery, the publishing company that released a 2000 Mules companion book.
Last year, Salem acquired a 30% stake in MxM News, a mobile news aggregation app co-owned by Donald Trump Jr., reported The Hill. Trump Jr. and Lara Trump will be “a major part of the company’s strategic growth and content offerings moving forward,” Salem said.
Salem was founded in 1974 by Stuart Epperson and Edward Atsinger III, who are brothers-in-law.
“For the last 10 years, the Atsinger and Epperson families have been looking for a successor that would continue to carry the torch of delivering quality Christian and conservative media into the next generation and beyond,” Salem said in a corporate statement.
Salem long focused on Christian teaching and Christian music, owning Christian music stations and publishing CCM Magazine. But it sold off the stations and the magazine, which was acquired by Logan and Amanda Sekulow. Logan is the son of conservative Christian attorney Jay Sekulow, who has defended Trump.
WaterStone already had invested $40 million in Salem before the acquisition was announced. The deal should be completed by August, pending approval by the Federal Communications Commission to transfer Salem’s licenses to WaterStone.
A law firm, however, suggests the deal may have breached Salem’s fiduciary duty to its investors.
“The transaction agreement unreasonably limits competing transactions for Salem by imposing a significant penalty if Salem accepts a competing bid,” said Ademi LLP. “We are investigating the conduct of the Salem board of directors, and whether they are fulfilling their fiduciary duties to all shareholders.”
WaterStone’s 2025 revenue of $795,065,171 was $300 million higher than 2024’s $495,642,367 revenue, making it the third-largest religious nonprofit in Colorado Springs behind Compassion International and Young Life.