Tech Tycoon Larry Ellison Will Control Paramount Global After Skydance Deal Closes: Filing

Larry Ellison, the megabillionaire founder of Oracle, will be the majority shareholder of National Amusements Inc., the company that controls Paramount Global, after the expected closing of the deal with Skydance Media — led by his son, David Ellison — next year, according to a regulatory filing.

Larry Ellison will own 77.5% of National Amusements through Pinnacle Media, a group of three ventures formed “as special-purpose vehicles to hold the Ellison family’s interest in NAI and Paramount,” according to an FCC filing, available at this link. The remaining 22.5% of NAI will be owned by Gerry Cardinale, head of private-equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, which teamed with Skydance and the Ellisons on the NAI/Paramount deal.

The FCC filing disclosing the ownership stakes of NAI was required because the transaction involves the transfer of CBS’s 28 owned-and-operated local TV stations. The FCC must approve a transfer of control of television broadcast licenses.

On July 7, after months of on-again-off-again talks, Skydance and RedBird together with NAI and Paramount Global announced a binding agreement that will see the Skydance group buy the shares of Shari Redstone’s NAI (which owns 77% of the voting power in Paramount Global) and then merge with Paramount.

Last month an investor consortium led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. entered a last-minute rival bid for Paramount, just days before the “go-shop” period under the Skydance agreement expired on Aug. 21 (prompting the Paramount board’s special committee to extend the negotiation window by 15 days). But last week, Bronfman announced the bidding group was exiting the deal process, paving the way for Skydance-RedBird deal to go forward.

Paramount Global properties include CBS, Paramount Pictures, cable networks like Comedy Central, MTV and BET, and streamers Paramount+ and Pluto TV. The media conglomerate currently expects the Skydance deal to close in the first half of 2025. David Ellison is set to become CEO of the combined Skydance-Paramount and Jeff Shell, ex-CEO of NBCUniversal and chairman of RedBird Sports & Media, will become president.

Ahead of the pending Skydance deal close, Paramount is making major layoffs amid revenue declines in its TV and film businesses. The company last month said it is cutting 15% of its U.S. workforce — eliminating about 2,000 jobs — through the end of 2024 as part of efforts to slash $500 million in yearly costs.