Paramount Skydance is planning to bid on Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN, just weeks after Skydance acquired Paramount and subsidiary CBS.
The newly formed conglomerate is run by David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellison, who on Wednesday temporarily surpassed Elon Musk as the world’s richest person.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the younger Ellison’s company is preparing a majority cash bid for all of Warner Bros. Discovery, which also includes HBO, cable stations TBS and TNT, and DC Entertainment. Warner Bros. Discovery’s market capitalization, the outlet states, approaches $33 billion.
“Ellison has been looking at Warner Bros for a while,” an individual close to Paramount executives told Deadline. “Nothing new there, he’s just taking a closer look, assessing the pros and cons.”
Unlike the acquisition of Paramount in August, taking control of Warner Bros. Discovery would likely not require FCC approval, according to Deadline, since the company has no broadcast licenses. That acquisition had been preceded by Paramount paying a $16 million settlement to Donald Trump’s presidential library that critics called a “bribe,” as well as CBS—a target of Trump’s—agreeing to make FCC-approved changes to its news division.
Since then, it has been reported that Ellison may appoint Bari Weiss, a founder of the website The Free Press, as editor in chief or co-president of CBS News—a move widely considered an appeal to right-wing sensibilities. A similar shake-up at CNN, which Trump has long despised, could be in store.
Pending a possible takeover, Warner Bros. and Discovery Global are expected to split into two separate entities next spring. One company will be focused on streaming, and the other on television broadcasting.
“This evolution isn’t a departure from our strategy—to deploy Max globally, optimize our global networks and return our Studios to industry leadership—it’s about unlocking the full potential of two strong businesses,” CEO David Zazlav told staff in a June memo.
Paramount Skydance is seeking to acquire the entity before the separation. David Ellison, 42, founded Skydance in 2006. His father’s net worth, according to Forbes, is currently $367 billion.
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