On Tuesday morning, the $110 billion merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed, creating a new media company called Skydance and handing control of the largest single portfolio of American television, film and streaming to 41-year-old David Ellison. Skydance now owns CBS, CNN, HBO, HBO Max, Paramount+, Pluto TV, BET, MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, Nickelodeon, Showtime, TNT, TBS, TruTV, DC Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, the “Lord of the Rings” franchise, “Game of Thrones,” and “Yellowstone,” all in a single transaction.
Ellison, who was not widely known in Hollywood five years ago, became CEO of Paramount in 2025 after merging his production company Skydance with the network in a deal backed by his father Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle and the world’s second-richest person. The new Skydance was funded in part by sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. The co-CEO is Ynon Kreiz, former CEO of Mattel. Mass layoffs are expected. David Ellison called it “a historic day for our industry” and said the company will invest in “world-class creative talent.” BET is among the properties the settlement terms require Skydance to divest within 120 days if certain conditions are not met. That part did not make the press release. The people who reported on this merger on CNN are now employed by the same company that owns the merger. Nobody mentioned that part in the coverage either.