Paramount buys Warner Bros. Discovery for $81 billion

Paramount closed its 81 billion dollar takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday, October 6, 2026. The transaction creates an entertainment conglomerate operating under the name Skydance. Including assumed debt, the total transaction value reaches nearly 111 billion dollars.

The merger unites major studios and brings assets such as HBO Max, CNN and Warner film franchises under the same corporate umbrella as Paramount+, CBS and Paramount Pictures. Skydance acquired Paramount for 8 billion dollars last year before launching a hostile takeover bid for Warner at 31 dollars per share, which prompted Netflix to drop an earlier studio and streaming deal.

The business will be led by CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz. Mark Thompson will remain editor-in-chief of CNN. To fund the transaction, Paramount secured billions of dollars from investors in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, with the Federal Communications Commission clearing indirect foreign ownership of up to 100% of non-voting equity interests.

The deal closed after resolving regulatory challenges and a lawsuit filed in July by 12 state attorneys general. Under a settlement approved in September, the company pledged to increase film production in the United States over five years, fund support for displaced workers and establish an editorial independence board for CNN and CBS.