To The Moon

Chapter 1: The Ambitious Heir and His Hollywood Dream

$Paramount(PGRE)$ 

$Netflix(NFLX)$  

$Paramount Skydance Corp(SKYD)$  

In the glittering but brutal world of Hollywood, empires rise and fall with the box office. A new player emerged with deep pockets and bigger ambitions.David Ellison, son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison (one of the world’s richest men), had long chased a movie dream.

 He founded Skydance Media, a production company that co-financed hits and rode along on big films without controlling a major studio.

Hollywood’s old guard often kept him at arm’s length. Some talent preferred not to work with the tech heir. But David had something rarer than connections: serious money, and a father whose fortune was soaring on AI and enterprise software.While traditional media giants reeled from streaming losses, David saw a rare window. The industry was shrinking. His family’s resources were expanding. Small co-productions were no longer enough. He wanted to build an entertainment empire.

Chapter 2: The First Bite — Swallowing Paramount

Hollywood’s classic five major studios had thinned under pressure.

Disney was untouchable.

Universal belonged to Comcast.

Sony Pictures stayed under its Japanese parent.

That left two vulnerable players: Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Both had seen their stock prices crater more than 70% over a couple of rough years.

Paramount was the smaller target. Crucially, it had an unusual dual-class share structure. 

A tiny slice of voting A shares controlled the company, and a large portion of those sat with the Redstone family interests.

David made a private, high-premium offer for those controlling shares—paying well above market and even offering to cover potential legal costs. 

The personal approach with Sharistone worked.[Love you]  [Love you]  

Combined with open-market purchases and allies, the Ellison side and partners spent roughly $8 billion to secure control of Paramount in August 2025. Skydance and Paramount merged. David became chairman and CEO.

He deliberately left Paramount as a public company with a minority of non-voting shares still floating. That “shell” would prove essential later. It gave him a listed vehicle to raise debt and equity without fully privatizing the operation.

Chapter 3: Eyes on the Bigger Prize

Barely a month after closing on Paramount, David set his sights on Warner Bros. Discovery—the larger prize.

Warner controlled Harry Potter, DC, HBO, a major film studio, and valuable cable and streaming assets. This was no partial stake play. He wanted 100%.He approached Warner’s leadership with successive offers: first around $19 a share (mostly cash and stock), then higher, then higher still. The board kept saying no.

Yet each public rebuff pushed Warner’s stock toward the bid prices. Shareholders began questioning why the board was rejecting such premiums. Pressure mounted. Warner opened a formal sale process. Suddenly the door was open—and competitors walked in.Netflix entered with a strong bid focused on the studio and streaming assets. Comcast circled. Prices climbed. Netflix’s offer reached the mid-to-high $20s for a more limited package.

David countered with a higher all-company bid near $30, all cash. 

In early December 2025, Warner’s board initially favored Netflix. David responded with a classic Wall Street move: a hostile tender offer directly to shareholders, bypassing the board.

Chapter 4: Money, Guarantees, and the Power Game

Skeptics questioned whether the tech heir could truly finance a deal of this size—roughly $80–81 billion in equity value and more than $110 billion enterprise value including assumed debt.

The plan relied on tens of billions in bank and private debt, plus massive equity from the Ellison family, RedBird Capital, and roughly $24 billion from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi) that would take non-voting stakes.

Critics zeroed in on the funding structure and family trusts. In response, Larry Ellison stepped forward with a massive, irrevocable personal guarantee to backstop the equity. The message was clear: the father stood fully behind the son. Confidence returned among banks, investors, and the market.

Political currents also played a role. Reports noted outreach involving the Trump orbit and concerns about media concentration and specific networks. 

Antitrust scrutiny followed, including a Department of Justice review that ultimately cleared the path, plus later state attorneys general challenges that were settled with behavioral commitments (production levels, editorial safeguards, and other conditions).

Netflix, after some resistance, ultimately stepped aside when David raised the final cash price to $31 per share for the entire company.

Chapter 5: The Snake Swallows the Elephant

On February 27, 2026, the definitive agreement was signed. Warner shareholders approved it. Regulatory hurdles in multiple jurisdictions cleared with unusual speed relative to the deal’s size.

$81 billion in cash to Warner shareholders and assumed significant debt, for a total enterprise value around $110–111 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery shares ceased trading.

The combined company rebranded as Skydance Corporation (ticker SKYD). It united two major film studios, Paramount+ and HBO Max, CBS, CNN, and a vast portfolio of networks and IP under one roof.David Ellison remained chairman and CEO, later naming a co-CEO for day-to-day operations. The new giant carried heavy debt—around $80 billion—and targeted billions in annual synergies through cost cuts and integration.

Chapter 6: The Real Engine Behind the Empire

What looked like a smaller studio swallowing a much larger one was, in reality, capital and control engineering of a high order.By keeping Paramount public yet tightly controlled, David used it as the acquisition vehicle—issuing equity, raising debt, and channeling outside capital without ceding voting power.Behind him stood Larry Ellison’s fortune. Alongside them stood major sovereign funds and political relationships that helped smooth the path.Hollywood’s five majors effectively became four (or fewer in practical power). One of the largest media consolidations in history had been executed by a determined heir who turned family wealth, structural cleverness, persistence through a hostile process, and high-stakes financing into control of an entertainment colossus.The story ends not with a simple corporate handshake, but with the reminder that in the biggest deals, money, structure, timing, and influence still decide who gets to write the next chapter.