Paramount acquired Warner Bros. Discovery for $110 billion
28 February 09:15
Paramount Skydance announced the purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery for $110 billion.
“Paramount Skydance Corporation and Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. today announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement under which Paramount will acquire WBD,” according to a press release published on Paramount’s website, as reported by "Komersant Ukrainian".
The day before, it became known that streaming company Netflix had decided to withdraw from the agreement to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery for $82.7 billion, which was signed in December 2025. In February this year, Paramount offered Warner Bros. Discovery more favorable terms for the merger of the companies. After that, Netflix refused to fight for the asset.
Under the terms of the new agreement, Paramount will pay $31 for each outstanding Warner Bros. share and will assume the company’s debts, including $2.8 billion in compensation to Netflix for terminating the existing merger agreement.
The boards of directors of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, Reuters reports.
Control of CNN may be acquired by a businessman close to Trump
Warner Bros. Discovery owns the rights to a large archive of films and TV series that have been made in Hollywood over nearly 100 years. The company also owns franchises such as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, as well as the HBO Max streaming service and CNN and Discovery TV channels. Paramount CEO David Ellison said that by combining two “world-class studios,” the company will create “even greater value for viewers, partners, and shareholders.”
Since 2025, Paramount has been owned by the Ellison family, which is said to be close to US President Donald Trump. Larry Ellison is the founder of Oracle, a technology corporation that is one of the key players in the database and cloud technology market and a major contractor to the US government. In particular, Oracle provides critical IT infrastructure for the Pentagon.
The new agreement to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery must now be approved by antitrust regulators. In this case, Paramount will, in particular, gain control of CNN, which Donald Trump has repeatedly accused of spreading “fake news” about himself and his administration.
