Story perspectives

Skydance completes $110B Paramount–Warner merger, launches NYSE trading

By Drooid · Oct 6, 2026, 7:37 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

David Ellison completes merger

David Ellison completed the $110 billion Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger, creating Skydance.
Skydance Corp. will trade on the NYSE under ticker SKYD.
Skydance raised $47 billion in Class B equity at $12 per share from Larry Ellison, RedBird and Gulf sovereign funds.
Ynon Kreiz joins David Ellison as co-CEO of Skydance.
Skydance targets $6 billion synergies and a 3.0× debt-EBITDA ratio by 2029.

Summary

Skydance faces quota

A five-year consent decree forces Skydance to release at least 30 films annually, including four independent titles.
If Skydance misses the quota, it may have to sell its 49% stake in Miramax.
The settlement establishes an editorial independence board to oversee CNN and CBS News reporting.
A CVL Economics report estimates the merger could cut about 4,500 film-TV jobs and erase $1.26 bn in wages.

History

Historical Context

The 2024 Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, which includes a five-year consent decree, revives concerns first raised during the 2018 AT&T-Time Warner transaction. That $85.4 billion deal faced a DOJ antitrust suit filed on November 20, 2017, survived a six-week trial, and closed on June 14, 2018, setting a precedent for regulators to impose output caps or divestitures.

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David Ellison completes merger

David Ellison completed the $110 billion Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger, creating Skydance.
Skydance Corp. will trade on the NYSE under ticker SKYD.
Skydance raised $47 billion in Class B equity at $12 per share from Larry Ellison, RedBird and Gulf sovereign funds.
Ynon Kreiz joins David Ellison as co-CEO of Skydance.
Skydance targets $6 billion synergies and a 3.0× debt-EBITDA ratio by 2029.

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