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Skydance Closes USD 81 Billion Takeover of Warner Bros to Form New Hollywood Giant
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News18•06-10-2026, 19:30
Skydance Closes USD 81 Billion Takeover of Warner Bros to Form New Hollywood Giant
- •Skydance-owned Paramount completed its USD 81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, creating a massive new entertainment giant under the shorter name Skydance.
- •The merger unites historic studios, bringing HBO Max, Harry Potter, and CNN under the same corporate umbrella as Paramount+, CBS, and Top Gun.
- •The combined company will be led by billionaire David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, following a tumultuous year-long bidding war that initially involved Netflix.
- •The massive tie-up faced significant pushback from Hollywood creatives and industry professionals concerned about job losses and reduced audience choices.
- •The deal also drew attention from the Trump administration, with officials expressing strong opinions about CNN while Ellison promised editorial independence.
Key Questions Answered
Skydance-owned Paramount closed its USD 81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, bringing the total acquisition cost to nearly USD 111 billion when including billions of dollars in debt.
Months before the Paramount merger, Warner initially struck a studio and streaming deal with Netflix in December, but Netflix later opted to bow out after Paramount launched its hostile counterbid.
Paramount Skydance faced legal challenges and a temporary pause from a coalition of U.S. states led by California and the Writers Guild of America, but ultimately settled the litigation by agreeing to increase domestic film production and establish an editorial-independence board for CBS and CNN.
