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Larry Ellison provides personal guarantee for Paramount Skydance's $40.4 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 at 01:40 AM
Larry Ellison has personally guaranteed $40.4 billion to support Paramount Skydance's bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) from Netflix. The guarantee addresses earlier concerns from the Warner Bros. board regarding Paramount's financing. Paramount's offer is an all-cash $30 per share, while Netflix's offer is a cash-and-stock equivalent of approximately $27.75. Warner Bros. will review the revised terms but still recommends the Netflix deal. Both potential mergers face significant antitrust review in the U.S. and Europe.
Context
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has issued a personal guarantee for Paramount Skydance’s $40.4 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, aiming to resolve financing concerns that previously favored a rival Netflix offer. This $30-per-share all-cash proposal now carries significantly lower execution risk, as Ellison committed to maintaining the family trust’s assets throughout the transaction. The move highlights the offer's price premium over the $27.75 equivalent bid from Netflix, which currently remains under recommendation by the Warner Bros. board.
The revised terms include a $5.8 billion regulatory termination fee and a tender offer deadline of January 21, 2026. Analysts note that the Ellison family’s political ties to President Trump could provide a strategic advantage during the intense antitrust scrutiny expected in the U.S. and Europe. If successful, the merger would create a media giant larger than Disney, combining massive content libraries to dominate the global streaming and television landscape.
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