Media Mergers and Antitrust

Paramount Skydance, led by David Ellison and largely financed by Larry Ellison, has put forward a roughly $111 billion bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery that would fold studios, two global streamers (Paramount+ and HBO Max), CBS, CNN and numerous cable networks into an Ellison‑backed media‑and‑data empire tied to Oracle and stakes in TikTok US. After a months‑long bidding war in which Netflix’s roughly $83 billion offer for WBD’s studio and streaming assets was initially preferred, WBD’s board declared Paramount’s $31‑per‑share bid superior, Netflix declined to match it, and Paramount agreed to cover a $2.8 billion breakup fee — a deal that faces significant regulatory and antitrust scrutiny and would leave the combined company heavily indebted while promising access to granular viewer data for AI ambitions.