In a dramatic escalation of Hollywood’s biggest deal battle, Larry Ellison has offered a personal guarantee of $40.4 billion to reinforce Paramount Skydance’s bid for Warner Bros Discovery.
The move is aimed squarely at addressing Warner Bros’ concerns over financing certainty—concerns that previously tilted the board toward the rival Netflix cash-and-stock offer.
Key changes in Paramount’s revised proposal:
- 🔹 Personal funding guarantee from Larry Ellison
- 🔹 Commitment not to alter the Ellison family trust during the transaction
- 🔹 Regulatory reverse termination fee raised to $5.8B, matching Netflix
- 🔹 Tender offer extended to January 21, 2026
Importantly, the $30-per-share all-cash offer remains unchanged, signaling that the battle is now less about price—and more about certainty, governance, and regulatory survivability.
Why this matters:
This is no longer a conventional M&A contest. It is a test of:
- Balance-sheet credibility vs. platform scale
- Family capital vs. public market firepower
- Traditional studio consolidation vs. streaming dominance
A Paramount–Warner Bros combination would eclipse Disney in studio scale, while a Netflix–Warner Bros deal would create a streaming powerhouse with 428 million subscribers, raising profound antitrust and political questions in both the U.S. and Europe.
The outcome will likely redefine not just the media landscape—but how mega-deals are financed, guaranteed, and defended in an era of heightened regulatory scrutiny.