Paramount closes $110bn Warner Bros. deal with pledge to rebuild trust
Paramount has closed its $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, and chief executive David Ellison says the combined company is in "the business of rebuilding trust."
The deal finalised on 6 October, only hours before Ellison fronted the press alongside co-chief executive Ynon Kreiz, according to Deadline. The merged group carries nearly $80 billion in debt. That is a lot of borrowing to sit alongside two famous studio lots.
Ellison and Kreiz spoke on Tuesday at the Paramount lot in Los Angeles. Their on-the-record remarks lasted about 30 minutes. An off-the-record mixer with media and other Skydance executives followed.
Ellison described the road to closing as "a turbulent process and, at times, an ugly process." Paramount outmanoeuvred Netflix and Comcast to land the $110 billion agreement. Skydance settled two antitrust lawsuits before it could close.
Part of that legal settlement is a consent decree, meaning a court-enforced deal with the plaintiffs who tried to block the merger. One term requires the company to release at least 30 films in theatres a year. For cinema owners, that number matters. It sets a floor for big-screen supply.
The money task now falls heavily on Kreiz. He is charged with delivering $6 billion in merger cost savings, Reuters reported. Kreiz was previously chief of toymaker Mattel Inc., according to Bloomberg. His appointment as co-chief executive, effective at closing, was announced by Ellison on 30 September, Paramount said in a company statement.
Under that structure, Ellison continues as chairman and chief executive officer. Kreiz focuses on day-to-day management. It is a split meant to separate long-term ownership from daily operations.
Inside the company, executives have sent a memo to staff laying out goals and held a town hall meeting. The listed parent, Paramount Skydance Corporation, trades on NASDAQ under the ticker PSKY. Warner Bros. Discovery trades as WBD. The whole combination traces back to an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated 27 February 2026. Paramount had expected to close on 6 October, Variety reported.
For viewers, this means fewer separate bosses and more shared decisions. What gets made, where it premieres and how long it runs will now flow through one leadership team. Behind each of those calls sits a crew of hundreds and a writers' room waiting to learn if its story continues.
