David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family’s growing portfolio. Ellison’s small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.
The Ellison family now controls one of the largest traditional media companies ever formed, with HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.”
“We’re grateful to everyone who made this possible – the employees, creative talent, and production teams of both companies, who worked tirelessly to get us here and inspire audiences around the world every day, as well as the advisors and partners who guided this transaction to completion,” Ellison said.
Shares of the new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, a switch from last week when the company went by PSKY for Paramount Skydance and traded on the NASDAQ. Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
The new company emerged heavily in debt — more than $80 billion — to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share. The Ellison family will be the controlling shareholders with longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners joining with voting shares.
Nearly half of the new company will be owned by foreign investors after Skydance sought a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission, controlled by an appointee of President Donald Trump who has long favored the Ellison family’s flex to own two major news outlets — CBS News and CNN.
The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributed $24 billion in equity to help Ellison close the deal.
This is a developing story.
