Paramount completes $111B Warner merger, creating "Skydance" behemoth

Paramount completed a $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery to form a new company called Skydance, combining two major studios, streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max, CBS, CNN, extensive sports assets (CBS Sports and TNT Sports), and a large content library and franchises. David Ellison leads Skydance, which is expected to carry about $80 billion in debt, creating pressure to grow streaming, protect cable cash flow, and boost theatrical performance. Sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar provided financing by taking large non-voting equity stakes, while the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners retain all voting shares. The name Skydance follows Paramount’s earlier acquisition of a separate Skydance company.

The merger survived multiple legal challenges: a lawsuit by California and 11 other states alleging antitrust harms was settled and approved by US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, who accepted remedy terms requiring minimum film investment and separate negotiations for basic cable channel licensing; free-speech and media advocates criticized the settlement as insufficient. A consumer suit and emergency appeals to the Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan failed to block the deal. The settlement also mandates an Editorial Independence Board for CBS News and CNN, with members chosen by Skydance and reporting to its board, while legacy executives at CNN and CBS News remain in place.