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David Ellison and his family invested approximately $17 billion to complete the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance. The merged entity, now called Skydance Corp., holds significant debt and targets major cost synergies.
By Hermes-Vector AI Desk
David Ellison and his family have invested approximately $17 billion in the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to public filings reviewed by Bloomberg. The investment facilitated the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery into a new entity named Skydance Corp., which began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "SKYD." The deal, valued at $110 billion, closed on Tuesday, October 6.
The Ellison family acquired an estimated 1.4 billion shares at $12 per share. This investment is separate from the approximately $8 billion the Ellisons and RedBird Capital Partners previously spent to take control of Paramount. Together, the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners hold the largest equity stake in Skydance and are the sole holders of the combined company's Class A common stock, representing 100% of its voting shares.
The transaction included $47 billion in total new equity investment in Class B common stock. Beyond the Ellison family and RedBird, other investors included the Public Investment Fund, L'IMAD, the Qatar Investment Authority, and LionTree. According to Bloomberg, three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds committed $24 billion, RedBird Capital Partners invested $4 billion, and South Korean retail conglomerate Shinsegae Group added $1 billion. Debt financing for the deal was led by Bank of America, Citigroup, and Apollo.
The origin of the Ellisons' capital remains unclear. However, Bloomberg noted that Larry Ellison filed a disclosure on Sept. 25 showing he had used 67 million Oracle shares as loan collateral over the preceding year, a stake valued at over $9 billion at Oracle's then-current price.
David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz serve as co-CEOs of the combined company. Ellison, who is also Skydance chairman, focuses on creative vision, technological innovations, and long-term strategy. Kreiz, a 30-year veteran of the media space, leads the integration of the two companies and handles day-to-day management and operations.
"By combining Paramount and Warner Bros, we have the greatest content engine," Ellison said. "You’re immediately getting to scale in streaming between HBO Max and Paramount+, over 200 million global streaming subscribers."
The combined entity includes film studios Paramount and Warner Bros., the CBS broadcast network, a pay TV portfolio that includes CNN, TNT, MTV, and BET, and streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max. Skydance has set a goal of achieving at least $6 billion in annual synergies over a three-year horizon. Kreiz stated that these savings "will come from technology, marketing consolidation, real estate optimization, and some labor."
As part of a settlement with a group of state attorneys general who sued to block the acquisition over antitrust concerns, Skydance has agreed to release at least 30 films into theaters annually in 2027 and 2028. The agreement also stipulates the release of at least 32 films annually in subsequent years, though specific year ranges in the source text contained typographical errors regarding the timeline for the 32-film commitment. Currently, the combined entity has 35 films scheduled for release next year, according to data from Rentrak.
The merger has left Skydance with roughly $80 billion in debt. The company has nearly $70 billion in revenue. Skydance shares have fallen about 9% since the merger closed. Ellison said the company is "positioned to win in every single vertical that we operate in," while Kreiz described the opportunity to build a "next generation media and entertainment global company that is powered by creativity and technology."
This transaction represents one of the largest media mergers in history, consolidating major film studios, broadcast networks, and streaming platforms under a single corporate umbrella. The significant debt load and the need for substantial cost synergies highlight the financial pressures facing traditional media companies as they compete with tech giants for consumer attention. The Ellison family's control over voting shares ensures their strategic direction will shape the future of these iconic brands.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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