Paramount Skydance Plots Bid For Warner Bros. Discovery As Ellisons Expand Media Empire

How do you celebrate your dad becoming the richest man on the planet? Well, if you’re David Ellison, you buy one of the most historic media companies in the world.

Fresh off closing a merger that gave Skydance Media control of Paramount Global, Ellison may already be eyeing the next target: Warner Bros. Discovery.

Reports say the newly formed Paramount Skydance is exploring a bid for WBD, a move that would reshape the entertainment business yet again. The Ellison family, led by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, financed the $8 billion Skydance-Paramount deal that closed in August, cementing David Ellison’s role in Hollywood’s top tier. His sister, Megan Ellison, is also a prominent Hollywood figure, having founded Annapurna Pictures, the indie studio behind acclaimed films like Her and Netflix’s animated feature Nimona.

Warner Bros. has been the subject of takeover speculation for months, particularly as it prepares to separate from Discovery’s cable and linear television assets. While much of the chatter centered on Warner Bros. Pictures alone, the talks now appear to involve the entire company. The Wall Street Journal reported that a potential offer would be mostly cash and backed by the Ellison family’s resources.

News of the possible bid sent Warner Bros. Discovery shares up more than 30% in afternoon trading before easing back yesterday. Both companies have declined to comment publicly.

Regulators would likely take a close look at any combination proposed by the companies. WBD doesn’t own broadcast licenses, avoiding Federal Communications Commission hurdles, but the Justice Department would almost certainly have concerns about putting two legacy studios — Warner Bros. and Paramount — under one roof.

Adding to the uncertainty, WBD chief executive David Zaslav has said the split of Warner Bros. and Discovery Global is still on track for April. Meanwhile, Paramount is preparing its own restructuring, with more than 2,500 job cuts planned in November to achieve $2 billion in savings. WBD has approximately $37 billion in gross debt of its own, which may signal even greater shakeups if an acquisition were to occur.

If a deal moves forward, it would mark another dramatic shift in Hollywood and solidify David Ellison’s standing as one of the industry’s most powerful players.