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Billionaire and philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs paid $250 million to acquire a stake in Skydance, the David Ellison-led company formed by the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery. Powell Jobs, founder and president of Emerson Collective, was named to the board of Skydance on Oct. 5 alongside former Activision chief Bobby Kotick, which […]
David Ellison’s freshly formed Skydance Corp. is off to a rocky start on Wall Street. He won Warner Bros. Discovery after a yearlong battle. But investors, at this point, appear to believe he wildly overpaid for the deal — that the newly merged company, dubbed Skydance Corp., is worth nowhere near the $78 billion in […]
Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery to form Skydance Corp., which pushes the combined company to second place in Nielsen’s U.S. TV audience share and brings together two major Hollywood studios, has reignited debate about consolidation in media. But the bigger story is what the merger highlights about the pressures reshaping the media industry […]
Warner Bros. TV Group & U.S. networks chairman/CEO Channing Dungey sent a memo to her staffers on Tuesday evening confirming her role in the new Skydance structure, including the fact that she will be a part of the company’s new executive leadership team. Dungey’s oversight will be expanding: As expected, she shared the news that […]
Skydance Corp., formed from the megamerger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, is bringing new blood to its board of directors. On Tuesday, the company announced that Laurene Powell Jobs, founder and president of Emerson Collective, and Bobby Kotick, founder and former CEO of Activision, are joining the board as independent directors. As previously announced, […]
George Cheeks, newly appointed to the role of Skydance TV co-chair and chief content officer, laid out his vision to staffers Tuesday, as the $111 billion merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed. Hours after Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz sent a memo to employees at the combined […]
David Ellison said the vision behind Skydance Corp., formed Tuesday by the closing of the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, was to “create a stronger competitor” and build a company that “empowers creatives, entertains audiences and rewards shareholders.” But on Day One of the new Skydance, investors seem skeptical of its prospects: Shares of the company, […]
President Donald Trump, who is friendly with David Ellison and his father, Larry Ellison, gave a big thumbs-up to Paramount’s megamerger with Warner Bros. Discovery, which closed earlier Tuesday to form Skydance Corp. “I’m happy about that. That’s great,” Trump told reporters Tuesday on the lawn of the White House when he was informed that […]
David Ellison wasted no time in adding the Skydance name to the iconic Warner Bros. water tower in Burbank. On Tuesday morning, shortly after Paramount officially closed its $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery to form Skydance, the famous landmark on the Warner Bros. studio lot was updated with a new line: “A Skydance […]
RedBird Capital Partners, led by Gerry Cardinale, invested $4 billion into Paramount’s deal to merge with Warner Bros. Discovery, the biggest Hollywood M&A deal in history, a source familiar with the deal confirmed to Variety. RedBird had already invested $2 billion in David Ellison’s Skydance Media for its takeover of Paramount Global, a deal that […]
It’s official: Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are now a single company — joined together as Skydance Corp., led by chairman and CEO David Ellison. The deal, valued at $111 billion, brings together two major studios, TV networks including CBS, CNN, Comedy Central, MTV and TBS, and streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max. The new […]
Having just been named to the hefty position of co-chair and chief content officer for Skydance DTC — overseeing both HBO Max and Paramount+, Casey Bloys is staying put. Variety has confirmed that Bloys — whose contract with HBO was set to expire next year — has signed on for a new multiyear extension. Insiders […]
David Zaslav, four and a half years after closing the debt-burdened deal that formed Warner Bros. Discovery, is bidding farewell to the company’s employees as it is about to get swallowed up by David Ellison’s Paramount — to create a media giant saddled with even more debt. Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, […]
David Ellison moved mountains and fought off many detractors in his quest to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. Now, as the transition is set to formally close on Oct. 6, the high-wire act is about to begin. The enlarged entity, to be known as Skydance, will carry a nearly unprecedented level of debt for a large […]
David Ellison, on the eve of officially closing the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger to form Skydance Corp., has announced his picks for the senior execs to run his new company. The new leadership team will be led by Ellison, chairman and CEO, and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, the former Mattel chief who joins Skydance starting Monday. […]
David Ellison has emerged victorious. And he’s boldly — or arrogantly, if you prefer — decided to name the entertainment giant that he’s bolted together Skydance Corp., nodding to the original name of his film production firm that has swallowed up two Hollywood studios over the past 14 months. Defying skeptics and beating back opponents, […]
Paramount TV media chair George Cheeks, whose domain has included all of CBS in addition to the Paramount cable networks, is said to be in line for an expanded oversight at the newly merged Paramount-Warner Bros. entity (which will be named “Skydance,” the company revealed Friday). Skydance would not comment, but Cheeks has been seen […]
John Leguizamo is speaking out about the Paramount and Warner Bros. merger, and he’s imploring David Ellison to consider what the industry needs as he takes over the new Skydance. “Come on, Dave. Do the right thing. Don’t just think of yourself and your pocket. Think of what Americans need and what the industry needs. […]
After nearly a year of dealmaking drama, Paramount Skydance’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery is about to become reality. Across Europe, where the Paramount chief David Ellison has spent time courting support for his vision of building a Hollywood colossus, the mood is surprisingly upbeat. The debt-laden $111 billion merger is set to close Oct. […]
Ynon Kreiz, as David Ellison’s right-hand man at the merged Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery, is getting a big pay bump over his pay package as CEO of Mattel. Kreiz, 61, signed an initial five-year employment contract with Paramount. He starts Oct. 5, one day before Paramount is set to close its $111 billion merger with Warner […]
