Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery Officially Merge Into Skydance, Closing the Biggest Media Deal in a Decade
The $110 billion deal cleared its final hurdles on Tuesday, eight months after it was first announced, handing David Ellison and the Ellison family fortune the keys to CBS, CNN, HBO Max, and most of Westeros.
Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery completed their $110 billion merger on Tuesday, officially forming Skydance and ending one of the messiest, most litigated media combinations in recent memory. The deal, first struck under an agreement dated February 27, 2026, survived legal challenges from a coalition of state attorneys general and a writers' union before clearing its last hurdles this week.
David Ellison now controls the combined company, with his family, backed by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, as its largest shareholder. "Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry," Ellison said, framing the deal as an attempt to "create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre." The new Skydance now owns both Paramount+ and HBO Max, networks including CBS, CNN, MTV, TBS, Comedy Central, and Food Network, and franchises spanning "The Lord of the Rings," "Game of Thrones," the DC Universe, and "Yellowstone." The combined company is projecting close to $70 billion in annual revenue.
The closing follows Paramount's decision earlier this month to retire its own corporate name in favor of Skydance, and a September settlement that resolved an antitrust challenge from a dozen state attorneys general. Paramount also sweetened the deal along the way, agreeing to cover Warner Bros.' Netflix breakup fee and offering shareholders extra cash if closing deadlines slipped. With the ink finally dry, the real test for Ellison starts now: proving two sprawling, overlapping media empires add up to something more than twice the overhead.
Source: TechCrunch
Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →
