Paramount Skydance is preparing a bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal, a megadeal that could potentially alter the entertainment industry.
The WSJ news, which cited unnamed persons familiar with the deal, sent shares of both media giants soaring Thursday, lifting the S&P 500 to a record closing high for the third consecutive day.
Backed by the deep pockets of the Ellison family — including Skydance chief executive officer David Ellison and his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison — the proposed takeover would consolidate a powerhouse of Hollywood assets under one roof.
The deal comes hot on the heels of Skydance’s USD 8.4 billion acquisition of Paramount Global last month. A merger with Warner Bros. Discovery would unite iconic properties like DC Comics’ Superman, The Matrix, Star Trek, Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants, and major news outlets including CBS News and CNN.
Earlier this week, Larry Ellison briefly claimed the title of the world’s richest person, overtaking Tesla’s Elon Musk, after Oracle delivered a blowout quarterly report and painted a bullish five-year outlook.
Investors welcomed the news with enthusiasm. Shares of Paramount Skydance jumped 16 percent to close at USD17.46, while Warner Bros. Discovery surged 29 percent to USD16.17. Both stocks continued to climb in after-hours trading.
The potential merger would mark one of the most significant shake-ups in Hollywood since the Disney-Fox deal, setting the stage for a new era of media consolidation.
