Paramount completes $110B Warner Bros. merger to form Skydance

BREAKING: Paramount completes $110B Warner Bros. merger to form Skydance

IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.Skip to ContentWarner Bros. Studio in Burbank, Calif.Mario Tama / GettyShareAdd NBC News to GoogleOct. 6, 2026, 8:54 AM EDT / Source: ReutersBy ReutersParamount Skydance on Tuesday completed its blockbuster $110 billion ​takeover of Warner Bros Discovery creating a Hollywood heavyweight called Skydance and handing CEO David ‌Ellison control of one of the world’s largest entertainment companies.

The deal brings together the studios behind “Mission: Impossible,” “Harry Potter” and DC Studios alongside major television and streaming networks such as CBS, CNN, Paramount+ and HBO Max — forming an expansive entertainment company spanning film, ​TV and news.

Shares of the combined company moved to the New York Stock Exchange from Nasdaq ​on Tuesday to trade under the ticker “SKYD.”

Settlements with a coalition of US states and a ⁠Hollywood writers union removed the main legal barriers to the merger, one of the largest in media history. ​It comes as Hollywood faces declining cable-TV subscriptions, high cost of competing for streaming audiences and persistent pressure ​from unions over jobs and creative workers’ rights.

David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance.David Becker / Getty for CinemaConEllison said last week the Skydance name was chosen to retain the individual identities of Paramount and Warner Bros studios, rather than combining them under a new brand.

Analysts, however, said the name reinforces the extent of ​Ellison’s control, highlighting how some of Hollywood’s most iconic brands now answer to him and how he ​has a platform to impose his strategy and culture.

After merging with Paramount last year, Skydance set its sights on Warner Bros, entering a heated bidding contest with Netflix while drawing interest ​from other potential suitors, including ​Comcast.

Ellison named ⁠Mattel’s former CEO Ynon Kreiz as Skydance co-CEO to run day-to-day operations and lead the integration, while Ellison oversees creative direction and overall strategy.

The duo faces the ​task of combining two large companies while delivering $6 billion in planned cost savings, ​a big part ⁠of which Paramount said would come from “non-labor sources” — by combining streaming technologies and cloud providers of the two companies. However, the scale of the cuts is expected to affect jobs across Hollywood.

The combined company is also expected to ⁠carry ​about $80 billion in debt, putting pressure on Ellison to grow streaming, ​preserve cash flow from cable networks and improve theatrical film performance.

CNN chief Mark Thompson and CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss would continue in their ​respective leadership roles at Skydance.

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