Hollywood Just Got a New $110 Billion King — and an $87 Billion Debt Mountain Came With the Crown
In 60 seconds: Skydance closed its $110B Warner Bros. takeover Tuesday — Paramount, Warner Bros., HBO Max, CNN, CBS under one roof. Trump cheered, the stock sank, and an $87B debt mountain looms.
- Closed Tuesday, Oct 6: ~$110B enterprise value ($81B equity; $31/share cash). The combined company is called Skydance, trading on the NYSE as SKYD.
- Ellison is chairman and CEO; Kreiz is co-CEO. CNN's Thompson and CBS's Weiss report to both, under a five-member board critics call "toothless."
- Shares fell as much as 4.5% on day one on $86.8B in total debt and a fresh Fitch downgrade to BB (7.8x leverage).
- The settlement locks in ≥30 theatrical films a year, $1.5B in extra U.S. production, and a merged Paramount+/HBO Max service.
Hollywood has a new king, and his crown came with a mortgage.
Tuesday, Paramount Skydance completed its $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery takeover — one of the largest media mergers ever. Within hours, the Burbank water tower carried a new line: "A Skydance Corporation." The company moved to the NYSE as SKYD.
What happened
Netflix started the bidding war and quit in February at $27.75 a share ("no longer financially attractive"). Paramount went to $31 and paid Netflix's $2.8 billion termination fee; Comcast never bid. September's settlement with 12 states plus the Writers Guild (approved Sept 30) created the five-member independence board and locked in the pledges: 30+ films a year, $1.5B in extra U.S. production, 200M+ subscribers, one merged streaming service.
Latest verified facts
The financing: $52 billion in debt raised in a single week plus $47 billion in new equity (Ellison family, RedBird, Saudi/Qatari/Abu Dhabi funds). Total debt: $86.8 billion ($78.9B net). Fitch cut the rating to BB on October 5 at 7.8x leverage; the plan is under 3.75x by 2028 via $6 billion in synergies — plus likely asset sales or share issuance. Shares outstanding balloon from 1.1 billion to 5 billion.
Sources: Reuters, Barron's, Fitch (Oct 5–7, 2026). Leverage 7.8x per Fitch; target <3.75x by 2028.
New board members: Kreiz, ex-Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, and Laurene Powell Jobs joined the board; Tony Blair as adviser. And the day-one memo warned of "difficult decisions that affect our workforce" — layoffs are coming.
Why it matters
Two stories in one trench coat: the creative one — Mission: Impossible, Harry Potter, DC, HBO, CNN under one roof — and the financial one — $87 billion of debt, a junk-adjacent rating, and a synergy target that means job cuts and probably higher streaming prices.
The newsroom question is the one to watch. Thompson and Weiss answer directly to Ellison and Kreiz, overseen by a board whose members are appointed and paid by the very people they're meant to check. With the midterms four weeks out, who controls CNN and CBS isn't an abstract governance debate. It's power.
Impact on the USA and the world
Trump, Tuesday: "It's going to be a great company. That's a great merger. I'm glad they let it go." For Americans, three things change: the streaming bill (likely up), the theater slate (30 films a year is now law), and the news diet (CNN + CBS under one billionaire, weeks before November 3). The $1.5B in extra U.S. production is the sweetener — if the debt math doesn't eat it.
What happens next
Three things to watch. The stock: day-one sellers need the synergy plan to survive reality. The layoffs: already telegraphed. The streaming merge: easy to announce, brutal to execute — pricing and churn tell the real story.
Our take: Ellison bought Hollywood's crown jewels with borrowed money. If the $6 billion in synergies lands and leverage falls under 3.75x by 2028, it's the deal of the decade. If not, it's a case study in buying magic on credit.
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