# Skydance Media **Skydance Media** is the film and television company [[David Ellison]] founded with backing from his father, Oracle co-founder [[Larry Ellison]]. Wikipedia dates it to 2006; the company dates itself to 2010. In five years it went from co-financing Paramount's franchises to owning Paramount, then Warner Bros. Discovery. As of **October 6, 2026** the combined company is itself named **Skydance** (NYSE: SKYD). It puts a large share of American news and entertainment under one family, a family close to the President. ## From partner to owner Skydance co-financed and co-produced Paramount's biggest franchises: every *Mission: Impossible* from *Ghost Protocol* (2011) to *The Final Reckoning* (2025), *Top Gun: Maverick* (2022), and *Star Trek Into Darkness* and *Star Trek Beyond*. ## The Paramount takeover (2025) | Date | Step | |---|---| | July 1–2, 2025 | Paramount settles Trump's suit over a *[[60 Minutes]]* interview for **$16M**, with no apology | | July 24, 2025 | The [[FCC]] approves the merger 2–1 ([[Anna Gomez]] dissenting). Conditions: a CBS ombudsman to "evaluate complaints of bias" for at least two years, no DEI programs, and a pledge of "a diversity of viewpoints." Chairman [[Brendan Carr]] cited Skydance's written commitments | | **Aug 7, 2025** | The $8B merger closes. David Ellison becomes chairman and CEO | | Oct 6, 2025 | Paramount buys [[The Free Press]] for about $150M and makes [[Bari Weiss]] editor-in-chief of [[CBS News]] | ## Warner Bros. Discovery (2025–26) - **Dec 2025:** WBD agrees to sell its studios and streaming business to Netflix. Paramount answers with a hostile all-cash bid of $30 a share for the whole company. - **Feb 26–27, 2026:** Netflix walks away. WBD signs with Paramount at **$31 a share**, about $110B, financed with about $45.7B of Ellison-family equity and $57.5B of debt. Netflix collects a $2.8B break fee. - **June 12, 2026:** the Justice Department approves the deal. - **July 13, 2026:** twelve state attorneys general, led by California's [[Rob Bonta]], sue to block it and win a temporary restraining order. - **Sept 21, 2026:** settlement with the states. Commitments include $1.5B of domestic production over five years, 30–32 films a year, no closing of the Los Angeles lots for five years, and an independent board over the editorial independence of CBS News and CNN. - **Oct 6, 2026:** the deal closes, and the combined company takes the name **Skydance**. Former Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz becomes co-CEO; [[Mark Thompson]] stays at [[CNN]]. The company carries about $80B of debt. ## Why it matters for the KB One family now owns CBS News, CNN, two major studios, and the streaming services that are merging into one. The family patriarch is a major Trump ally, and the approvals came after the Trump settlement and after editorial commitments extracted by a Trump-appointed FCC chairman. See [[Paramount Skydance - Warner Bros. Discovery Deal]] and [[Skydance-Paramount]]. ## See Also - [[Skydance-Paramount]] · [[Paramount Skydance - Warner Bros. Discovery Deal]] · [[Paramount Timeline]] · [[CNN and Warner Bros. Discovery Timeline]] - [[David Ellison]] · [[Larry Ellison]] · [[David Zaslav]] · [[Bari Weiss]] · [[Brendan Carr]]