# Skydance - Paramount Deal In July 2024, Skydance Media — controlled by [[David Ellison]], son of [[Oracle Corporation]] co-founder [[Larry Ellison]] — reached an agreement to acquire Paramount Global in a deal valued at approximately $28 billion including assumed debt. The transaction gives David Ellison control of one of the last remaining major broadcast-studio conglomerates, including CBS (and CBS News), Paramount Pictures, Paramount+, Showtime, MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central, and Simon & Schuster. The deal closed in 2025 after regulatory review, transferring control from the Redstone family — who had controlled Paramount's predecessor companies for decades — to the Ellison family. ## The Deal Structure Shari Redstone, who had fought for years to maintain control of her father Sumner Redstone's media empire through the family holding company National Amusements, ultimately agreed to sell after Paramount's stock price collapsed and the company's streaming losses mounted. National Amusements held roughly 77% of Paramount's voting shares despite owning only ~10% of its equity — a dual-class share structure that had kept the Redstones in control. Skydance's bid was structured to buy out National Amusements first (giving Skydance voting control), then merge with Paramount Global. [[Apollo Global Management]] was involved in the financing, providing preferred equity. Larry Ellison personally backstopped significant portions of the deal financing. The key asset from a political perspective is CBS — specifically CBS News, which reaches approximately 5 million nightly viewers and operates 60 Minutes, CBS Mornings, Face the Nation, and a network of local affiliates. Control of a broadcast news operation with that reach is qualitatively different from owning a cable channel or streaming service. ## The Ellison-Trump Connection [[Larry Ellison]] has been one of [[Donald Trump]]'s most prominent billionaire supporters and beneficiaries: - Ellison hosted Trump at his Lanai, Hawaii estate and has been a regular donor and ally - [[Oracle Corporation]] has pursued and won major federal technology contracts, including a role in the TikTok restructuring that Trump mandated - Ellison was among the equity co-investors in [[Elon Musk]]'s Twitter acquisition (contributing $1B) - Larry Ellison's net worth (among the top five globally) gives the family financial resources comparable to the Murdoch media empire at its peak David Ellison has not been as publicly political as his father, and Skydance's film and television production business has been mainstream Hollywood. But the question the RWKB tracks is structural: when the owner of a major broadcast network has a father who is one of the president's closest billionaire allies and whose company ([[Oracle Corporation]]) depends on federal contracts, does that create the same conflict-of-interest dynamic that eroded editorial independence at the [[Washington Post]] under [[Jeff Bezos]]? ## What Paramount Owns The portfolio matters because it spans nearly every media distribution channel: - **Broadcast:** CBS (one of three legacy broadcast networks still reaching mass audiences over public airwaves regulated by the [[FCC]]) - **News:** CBS News, 60 Minutes, CBS Mornings, Face the Nation, local CBS affiliates - **Streaming:** Paramount+ (~70M subscribers globally) - **Cable:** MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, Showtime, TV Land, CMT, Smithsonian Channel - **Film:** Paramount Pictures (one of the original Big Five studios) - **Publishing:** Simon & Schuster (after the blocked Penguin Random House merger was reversed and S&S was sold to Paramount instead of KKR) This is the most comprehensive media portfolio to change hands since the Murdoch family consolidated Fox and News Corp. The combination of broadcast reach (CBS), news operation, streaming distribution, and cultural influence (MTV, Nickelodeon shaped generations) gives the new ownership a multi-vector media footprint. ## Why It Matters for the RWKB 1. **The tech-billionaire broadcast acquisition pattern.** [[Elon Musk]] took Twitter/X. [[Jeff Bezos]] owns the [[Washington Post]]. Now the Ellison family controls CBS and Paramount. [[James Murdoch]] acquired New York Magazine and Vox properties. The common thread: tech-derived wealth is systematically acquiring legacy media institutions, and each acquisition creates a new set of political conflict-of-interest dynamics. This is the core of the [[Media Consolidation]] map. 2. **The Larry Ellison bridge.** Larry Ellison sits at the intersection of [[Tech Oligarchy]], Trump political access, and now broadcast media ownership. He funded Musk's Twitter acquisition, his company ([[Oracle Corporation]]) benefits from federal contracts, and his son now controls a broadcast network whose news division covers the administration his father supports. This is the kind of multi-node oligarch connection the Phase 3 map is designed to capture. 3. **CBS News editorial independence under new ownership.** Broadcast news still reaches audiences that have never opened Twitter or read the [[Washington Post]]. If the Ellison ownership shifts CBS News's editorial posture — even subtly — the impact on democratic information flow is potentially larger than the Twitter transformation because the audience skews older, less online, and more electorally active. 4. **[[Apollo Global Management]] in media.** Apollo's involvement in the financing continues the [[Private Equity]] firm's growing media portfolio and its pattern of involvement in politically significant transactions. Apollo's Leon Black had his own controversies ([[Jeffrey Epstein]] connections); the firm's media strategy deserves dedicated tracking. ## Open Questions Worth Tracking - Does David Ellison exert editorial influence on CBS News, or does the news division maintain its institutional independence? - How does the Ellison ownership interact with CBS's broadcast license obligations and [[FCC]] public interest requirements? - Will the Larry Ellison-Trump relationship create visible editorial conflicts (e.g., coverage of Oracle federal contracts, coverage of Trump policies that benefit Ellison interests)? - Does the Paramount debt load lead to cost-cutting in the news division, following the pattern where financial engineering degrades journalism even without explicit editorial interference? ## Connections - The acquiring family: [[David Ellison]], [[Larry Ellison]], [[Oracle Corporation]] - Political connections: [[Donald Trump]], [[Trump Administration]], [[MAGA]], [[Republican Party]] - Media ownership pattern: [[Media Consolidation]], [[Tech Oligarchy]], [[Oligarchy]], [[Plutocracy]] - Parallel acquisitions: [[Musk Twitter Acquisition]], [[Bezos Washington Post Acquisition]], [[James Murdoch Lupa NY Mag Vox Acquisition]] - Financing and private equity: [[Apollo Global Management]] - The other media empire: [[Rupert Murdoch]], [[Lachlan Murdoch]], [[Fox News]] - Institutional: [[FCC]], [[Antitrust]], [[Regulatory Capture]], [[Department of Justice]] - Democratic concerns: [[Democracy]], [[Free Speech]], [[Media Ecosystem]], [[Legacy Media]] - Related actors: [[Elon Musk]], [[Jeff Bezos]], [[Peter Thiel]], [[Silicon Valley]] - KB context: [[Resistance Hub]] ## See Also - [[David Ellison]] - [[Larry Ellison]] - [[Oracle Corporation]] - [[Media Consolidation]] - [[Tech Oligarchy]] - [[Apollo Global Management]] - [[Donald Trump]]