{"id":4646,"date":"2026-04-02T16:17:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T16:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/4646\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T16:17:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T16:17:39","slug":"everything-larry-and-david-ellison-will-control-if-paramount-buys-warner-bros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/4646\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything Larry and David Ellison Will Control If Paramount Buys Warner Bros."},"content":{"rendered":"

Less than a year ago, Skydance Media closed its $8 billion merger<\/a> with Paramount, making the Trump-friendly Ellison family\u2014billionaire Oracle founder Larry and his son David, CEO of Paramount Skydance\u2014among the most powerful media moguls in the country. A looming Paramount Skydance merger<\/a> with Warner Bros. Discovery would expand their empire even further.<\/p>\n

Now that Netflix<\/a> has backed out of its bid to acquire WBD<\/a>, the Ellisons stand to gain an entirely new trove of significant intellectual property, from DC Comics to Harry Potter. According to Reuters<\/a>, Warner Bros. agreed to be acquired by Paramount Skydance in a $110 billion deal signed Friday, with Paramount Skydance agreeing to pay a $7 billion termination fee if federal regulators don\u2019t approve the merger.<\/p>\n

Paramount\u2019s merger with Skydance has already brought about mass layoffs<\/a>, including at CBS News, where Free Press founder Bari Weiss is leading a cultural overhaul as editor in chief. In January, Oracle became a partial owner of TikTok, giving the Ellisons even more cultural currency.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s everything the family would control if the WBD deal goes through.<\/p>\n

CBS and CBS News<\/p>\n

Besides its news division, which includes 60 Minutes, CBS is also home to hits like Tracker and Matlock, along with reality stalwarts Survivor and Big Brother.<\/p>\n

HBO and HBO Max<\/p>\n

Among the most Emmy-winningest networks to exist, HBO\u2019s library includes classics like Game of Thrones, The Wire, and Veep, as well as newer hits like The Pitt, The Gilded Age, and Thrones spin-off A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. (Outside of Canada, HBO Max is also a key distributor of the hockey smut drama Heated Rivalry<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

CNN<\/p>\n

While CNN\u2019s ratings dipped last year, it remains a news juggernaut and a top 5<\/a> cable network, featuring household names like John King, Kaitlan Collins, and Anderson Cooper (who recently announced he will be leaving 60 Minutes at the end of the current season).<\/p>\n

DC Comics<\/p>\n

The merger would put Paramount Skydance in control of storied comic book franchises like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.<\/p>\n

Harry Potter<\/p>\n

The wizarding world of Harry Potter, including all eight fantasy films and the upcoming HBO television series slated to premiere in 2027 would also be under the Ellisons\u2019 purview.<\/p>\n

TikTok<\/p>\n

As of a deal finalized in January, Oracle now holds a 15 percent stake in TikTok\u2019s US operations.<\/p>\n

Star Trek<\/p>\n

All 13 Star Trek movies and television shows are owned by Paramount Skydance. At a press event last year, Dana Goldberg, cochair of Paramount Pictures and chair of Paramount Television, said<\/a> the franchise would be a \u201cpriority across the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warner Bros. Studios<\/p>\n

Home to blockbusters like Barbie, The Dark Knight, and more recently, One Battle After Another and Sinners.<\/p>\n

Comedy Central<\/p>\n

South Park announced a five-year, $1.5 billion deal with Paramount<\/a> last July, just prior to the merger with Skydance. The show has since skewered Donald Trump and those in his administration regularly.<\/p>\n

Avatar Studios<\/p>\n

In December, Paramount+ announced it would be the exclusive streamer of Avatar Studios content, including animated film The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender and series Avatar: Seven Havens.<\/p>\n

A Bunch of Cable Channels and Networks<\/p>\n

The Food Network, HGTV, Discovery, TLC, OWN, Adult Swim, Showtime, TNT, and TBS are all part of WBD.<\/p>\n

Other Key Franchises<\/p>\n

Other notable titles that are or would be controlled by the Ellisons, pending the WBD takeover, include: The Lord of the Rings franchise, the Mission Impossible franchise, and the distribution rights to Dune: Part Three.<\/p>\n

2\/27\/26, 2:34 PM EDT: WIRED updated details about Paramount Skydance’s deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Less than a year ago, Skydance Media closed its $8 billion merger with Paramount, making the Trump-friendly Ellison…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[167],"tags":[12,5281,813,4985,5279,5280,2721],"class_list":{"0":"post-4646","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-larry-ellison","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-hbo","10":"tag-larry-ellison","11":"tag-netflix","12":"tag-streaming","13":"tag-television","14":"tag-tv"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116336017200550585","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}