The $110 billion merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery closed on Tuesday after Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan denied a last-minute effort to halt the deal.
The new company — known as Skydance — brings the HBO Max and Paramount+ streaming services under one umbrella, roughly seven months after Paramount won a long bidding war with Netflix (NFLX) for Warner Bros.
Skydance stock began trading on Tuesday under the symbol SKYD.
9.62 -0.16 (-1.64%)
As of 10:51:54 AM EDT. Market Open.
The merger faced plenty of pushback and a long road to closing.
“The completed transaction unites two of media and entertainment’s most storied companies, each with a history spanning more than a century, giving the combined business a rare legacy to build on,” Skydance stated in a press release. “The aim of the combined company is to build the next-generation global media and entertainment company powered by creativity and technology.”
The company’s entertainment franchises span “Sopranos” to “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Euphoria” to “Harry Potter.” The portfolio also encompasses television networks CBS, CBS News, CBS Sports, CNN, TNT, TBS, Nickelodeon, and MTV, among others.
Last February, Warner Bros.’ board of directors deemed Paramount’s Skydance’s $ 31-per-share proposal for the entire company “superior” to Netflix’s offer.
The new name is a callback to the production company that David Ellison, son of Oracle (ORCL) co-founder Larry Ellison, founded in 2006 and merged with Paramount in 2025.
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David Ellison will serve as co-CEO of Skydance, alongside former Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz, who abruptly stepped down from the toymaker last week.
On Monday, the company said Ellison will focus on long-term strategy, creative vision, and direction, “including its talent relationships, strategic partnerships, technology and capital allocation.” Kreiz will focus on day-to-day management and the integration of both companies.
Bari Weiss, editor in chief of CBS News, and Mark Thompson, CNN chair and editor in chief, remain in their roles. Both were named to the CEO’s News Executive Leadership Team.
Paramount CFO Dennis Cinelli will hold the same role at Skydance, while other leaders are taking on new roles with higher ranks. CBS Sports chief David Berson will take over the combined sports operations as Warner Bros. Discovery’s top sports executive, Luis Silberwasser, exits. HBO head Casey Bloys will become Skydance’s chief content officer.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav will enjoy a nice payday to the tune of roughly $886.8 million.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison speaks during the Paramount Pictures presentation at CinemaCon, the official convention of Cinema United, in Las Vegas on April 16, 2026. (Reuters/Caroline Brehman) · Reuters / REUTERS
Weeks ago, Paramount reached a settlement with a dozen states, including California, which had sought to block the company’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. on antitrust grounds.
Under the agreement, the combined company would face financial penalties if it fails to release at least 30 films in theaters each year.
According to two people familiar with the discussions cited by Bloomberg, Paramount would pay $30 million for each movie short of that target. The report also said Paramount could be forced to sell its 49% stake in Miramax if it does not meet the target.
In a long-shot effort to block the merger filed on Monday, four petitioners who described themselves as Paramount customers argued the merger remained anticompetitive despite the settlement.
However, Supreme Court Justice Kagan denied the petition without comment.
Skydance’s competitors include Disney (DIS), Netflix, Comcast (CMCSA), Versant (VSNT), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), and Alphabet’s YouTube (GOOG, GOOGL).
“PSKY/WBD creates a new formidable global streaming competitor by putting HBO/HBO Max, Warner Bros., Paramount+, CBS, Discovery and a high quality large film & TV library under a single owner, which gives it larger bundles, broader programming options, and more asset breadth to compete for talen, sub revs and advertisers against NFLX and DIS,” Needham entertainment and internet analyst Laura Martin wrote in a note Tuesday morning.
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