Less than a year ago, Skydance Media closed its $8 billion merger with Paramount, making the Trump-friendly Ellison family—billionaire Oracle founder Larry and his son David, CEO of Paramount Skydance—among the most powerful media moguls in the country. A looming Paramount Skydance merger with Warner Bros. Discovery would expand their empire even further.
Now that Netflix has backed out of its bid to acquire WBD, the Ellisons stand to gain an entirely new trove of significant intellectual property, from DC Comics to Harry Potter. According to Reuters, Warner Bros. agreed to be acquired by Paramount Skydance in a $110 billion deal signed Friday, with Paramount Skydance agreeing to pay a $7 billion termination fee if federal regulators don’t approve the merger.
Paramount’s merger with Skydance has already brought about mass layoffs, including at CBS News, where Free Press founder Bari Weiss is leading a cultural overhaul as editor in chief. In January, Oracle became a partial owner of TikTok, giving the Ellisons even more cultural currency.
Here’s everything the family would control if the WBD deal goes through.
CBS and CBS News
Besides its news division, which includes 60 Minutes, CBS is also home to hits like Tracker and Matlock, along with reality stalwarts Survivor and Big Brother.
HBO and HBO Max
Among the most Emmy-winningest networks to exist, HBO’s library includes classics like Game of Thrones, The Wire, and Veep, as well as newer hits like The Pitt, The Gilded Age, and Thrones spin-off A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. (Outside of Canada, HBO Max is also a key distributor of the hockey smut drama Heated Rivalry.)
CNN
While CNN’s ratings dipped last year, it remains a news juggernaut and a top 5 cable network, featuring household names like John King, Kaitlan Collins, and Anderson Cooper (who recently announced he will be leaving 60 Minutes at the end of the current season).
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