Thursday 08 Oct 2026
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(Oct 8): David Ellison and his family invested approximately US$17 billion to complete Paramount Skydance Corp’s acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery Inc, according to public filings.

Ellison, the son of Oracle Corp co-founder Larry Ellison, and his family acquired an estimated 1.4 billion shares in a stock offering, the filings show. Investors paid US$12 a share, according to the company.

A spokesperson for the newly merged business, now called Skydance Corp., declined to comment.

The US$110 billion Warner Bros acquisition involved an equity investment of US$47 billion. Three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds were slated to contribute US$24 billion, RedBird Capital Partners invested US$4 billion and Shinsegae Group, a South Korean retailer, provided US$1 billion.

 

The latest investment is on top of the roughly US$8 billion that the Ellisons and RedBird put in to buy control of Paramount last year. The Ellisons control the company through their ownership of the voting shares.

While the exact source of the Ellisons’ funds is not known, Larry Ellison revealed on Sept 25 that he pledged 67 million Oracle shares over the past year to use as collateral for personal loans. Those shares are worth more than US$9 billion based on Oracle’s share price.

The deal, which closed Tuesday, was one of the largest media mergers of all time, uniting two storied film studios, dozens of TV channels and two major subscription streaming services.

Skydance shares have fallen about 9% since the merger closed.

Uploaded by Liza Shireen Koshy

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