Warner Bros. Discovery Shareholders Approve $81 Billion Paramount Skydance Takeover
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted Thursday to approve Paramount Skydance's roughly $81 billion equity acquisition of the studio, a deal valued near $111 billion including debt.
Shareholders approved selling Warner Bros. Discovery for $31 per share. Paramount Skydance, which owns CBS News, says CEO David Ellison has pledged a 45-day theatrical window and a goal of about 30 films a year across the combined studios. Ellison also signaled the companies may combine HBO Max and Paramount+ while keeping the studios as stand-alone units.
The episode traces back to months of high-stakes bidding and board maneuvering. Warner at one point supported a $72 billion Netflix bid for its studio and streaming assets before Paramount raised its offer and Netflix withdrew. Thousands of industry workers had warned the deal would accelerate consolidation and job losses, and a Senate hearing put a spotlight on concentrated control of news and entertainment.
Coverage of the vote has shifted from deal mechanics to governance and politics as the merger moves to regulators. Newer reporting highlighted concerns about the Ellison family's relationship with President Trump and alleged undisclosed conflicts, prompting lawmakers and state attorneys general to call for heightened scrutiny as the deal enters a regulatory review that could last months.
📌 Key Facts
- Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted to approve Paramount Skydance's $81 billion acquisition at $31 per share; the transaction is valued at nearly $111 billion when including assumed debt.
- The shareholder vote — described in reports as overwhelming — clears a key hurdle toward closing, but the deal still requires regulatory approval and other closing steps.
- Lawmakers and state attorneys general are calling for heightened scrutiny of the merger over alleged 'undisclosed conflicts of interest,' and a Senate hearing included warnings (from Sen. Cory Booker) about concentrated control of news and entertainment.
- Paramount Skydance is the parent company of CBS News, raising ownership and conflict-of-interest concerns about the combined company's control of major news outlets; reporting also notes the Ellison family would gain control of assets including CNN.
- Paramount CEO David Ellison has pledged a 45-day theatrical window, a goal of roughly 30 films per year across the combined studios, and indicated HBO Max and Paramount+ may be combined while the studios remain stand-alone.
- The deal followed a prior bidding sequence in which Warner briefly backed a $72 billion Netflix studio-and-streaming bid before Paramount raised its offer and Netflix withdrew.
- Thousands of industry workers protested the merger, warning of job losses and further consolidation in the entertainment industry.
- MS NOW reported additional controversy, saying the Trump administration previously approved the Ellison family's acquisition of Paramount Global after CBS paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit by Donald Trump; the report also said Bari Weiss was installed as editor‑in‑chief at CBS News and pulled a planned '60 Minutes' segment, and that Weiss, David Ellison and other Paramount executives were scheduled to host Trump at a Washington dinner on the day of the Warner shareholder vote.
📰 Source Timeline (5)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- CBS reiterates that Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have now formally approved Paramount Skydance's roughly $81 billion acquisition.
- The segment frames the vote as clearing a key hurdle and focuses on what happens next, including regulatory review and deal-closing steps, though it does not add new hard numbers beyond the $81 billion valuation.
- CBS reminds viewers that Paramount Skydance is the parent company of CBS News, underscoring ownership and potential conflict-of-interest concerns.
- Warner Bros. shareholders overwhelmingly approved Paramount Skydance's $81 billion offer at $31 per share in a preliminary vote Thursday.
- The article explicitly ties regulatory approval to the Trump administration and highlights concerns about the Ellison family's close relationship with President Trump while gaining control of CNN.
- It reports that the Trump administration previously approved the Ellison family's acquisition of Paramount Global after CBS agreed to pay $16 million to settle Trump's $20 billion lawsuit over a '60 Minutes' Kamala Harris interview.
- It adds that after that deal, Bari Weiss, via her Free Press acquisition, was installed as editor-in-chief at CBS News and pulled a planned '60 Minutes' segment on abuse inside an El Salvador megaprison holding Venezuelan migrants deported from the U.S.
- Lawmakers and state attorneys general are already calling for heightened scrutiny of 'undisclosed conflicts of interest' around this new merger.
- The piece notes that Weiss, David Ellison and other Paramount executives were scheduled to host Trump at a dinner at the Institute of Peace in Washington on the same day as the Warner shareholder vote.
- CBS segment confirms that Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have formally voted to approve the Paramount Skydance merger.
- The report reiterates that Paramount Skydance is the parent of CBS News, underscoring ownership implications for the outlet itself.
- Shareholders approved selling Warner Bros. Discovery to Paramount for $31 per share in an $81 billion equity deal valued at nearly $111 billion including debt.
- Article details prior bidding war in which Warner initially backed a $72 billion Netflix studio and streaming bid before Paramount raised its offer and Netflix withdrew.
- Story notes extensive opposition from thousands of industry workers warning of job losses and consolidation, plus a Senate 'spotlight' hearing where Sen. Cory Booker warned about concentrated control of news and entertainment.
- Paramount CEO David Ellison has pledged a 45-day theatrical window and a goal of 30 films a year across the combined studios, promising HBO Max and Paramount+ may be combined while the studios stay stand-alone.