Warner Bros. Discovery jumps 10% on $110B merger deal

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance surged 10% each on Monday, September 21, 2026. The rally followed an antitrust settlement between the David Ellison-led media group and 12 state attorneys general over the pending $110 billion merger.

The settlement includes a $1.5 billion investment in domestic production and sets up an editorial board to monitor the editorial independence of CNN and CBS News. The concessions address concerns that combining the two studios would dominate movie theaters and cable channels. The parties had faced a trial scheduled for March against the state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America.

The transaction faced sharp financial deadlines. Starting October 1, Paramount faced a ticking fee of 25 cents per share, which amounted to $650 million per quarter or $7 million per day until closing. Ellison had also warned he would begin moving operations out of California without an agreement by October 1. The Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation projected that such a departure could cost up to $21.2 billion in annual output, 57,980 full-time jobs, and $1.17 billion in state and local tax revenue.

A separate study ordered by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors estimated that closing the deal could jeopardize 4,500 local film and television jobs and over 5,800 related positions across three years, totaling $1.26 billion in wages and $547 million in tax receipts. The transaction has already secured approval from Warner Bros. shareholders as well as regulators across 68 jurisdictions, including the US Department of Justice, the Federal Communications Commission, the European Commission, and the UK Competition and Markets Authority.