Topline
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison on Tuesday argued an antitrust lawsuit seeking to end his firm’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery is because of his politics and pending ownership of CNN, after Paramount agreed to push back its deal to 2027 following a legal challenge by a dozen states.
Key Facts
“I believe this fight is not really about market share,” Ellison wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times, adding, “The issue is whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner’s CNN.”
Earlier this month, Paramount agreed to push back its merger with Warner Bros. to next year or until a judge decides an antitrust lawsuit filed by 12 states, which argued the deal would result in “higher prices, lower quality and less content for film and television.”
Ellison said there has been “speculation about my politics, my loyalties, my intentions,” and while “I can’t give anyone a view into my heart and mind,” Ellison noted he has “regularly” voted for candidates of both parties and that he holds views “that would be called conservative and others that would be called liberal, just like most Americans.”
“Our journalists will continue to answer to the facts and to all the people they serve—not to any party or cause,” Ellison continued.
tangent
While the antitrust lawsuit does not directly cite concerns about Ellison’s politics, a group of Democratic Senators called on the Federal Communications Commission to scrutinize the deal over concerns about substantial investments from the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the Qatar Investment Authority and an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund. The Senators questioned whether state-backed investors from countries “hostile to a free press” should finance the owner of CNN and CBS News, arguing the ownership structure could create indirect pressure over newsroom independence.
surprising fact
David Ellison’s father, Larry Ellison, backed President Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection and has since established close ties to the Trump administration. Larry Ellison—the Oracle chairman whose wealth is estimated at $181 billion, the seventh-largest fortune in the world—appeared alongside Trump at the White House to announce a multibillion-dollar AI infrastructure project last year, in which Oracle is a key participant. David Ellison reportedly hosted Trump and other Trump administration officials at a private dinner earlier this year as Paramount sought federal approval in its deal, with CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss joining David Ellison at Trump’s table.
big number
More than $1.9 billion. That’s how much Paramount agreed to pay in ticking fees if its deal for Warner Bros. drags on until June 2027.
key background
Paramount’s $110 billion deal for Warner Bros. suffered a major blow last month after a federal judge temporarily blocked the acquisition, writing that states raised “serious questions” about whether the transaction violated antitrust law. Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin signaled she was skeptical about the deal, saying the antitrust lawsuit made a “strong showing that the transaction will substantially lessen competition.” Paramount, in response to the ruling, said it was “grateful” for how quickly a judge issued an order in the case, writing it was “confident the evidence will demonstrate” the lawsuit’s arguments are “without merit.”