The combined Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will operate under the name Skydance, chairman and CEO David Ellison announced Friday as the $111 billion merger prepares to close next week.
The new company, formally Skydance Corporation, will unite two major Hollywood studios, the HBO Max and Paramount+ streaming platforms, and television assets including CBS, CNN, MTV, TBS, Comedy Central and Food Network. Its entertainment portfolio will include franchises such as Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, the DC Universe, Yellowstone, Mission: Impossible, Top Gun and Nickelodeon’s children’s brands.
“Paramount and Warner Bros. shaped over a century of culture,” Ellison wrote in a post on X. “By combining them, we aren’t rewriting history — we’re equipping these iconic studios with a more powerful engine. Together, we are Skydance: a creative-first home for bold, quality storytelling.”
Ellison said the name was chosen to preserve the distinct identities of the legacy studios. “We never wanted a new corporate identity to diminish, alter or overshadow either one. Instead, we wanted a name that would give the combined company an identity of its own while allowing Paramount and Warner Bros. — and all our extraordinary brands — to remain in the spotlight.”
He added: “We have big goals for Skydance, and we intend to pursue them with passion, imagination and a willingness to take smart risks. At the same time, we will honor what makes Paramount and Warner Bros. special.”
The deal is scheduled to close on Oct. 6. Skydance will be led by Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, the former Mattel chief who joins on Oct. 5. The company plans to transfer its Class B common stock from Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange and change its ticker symbol from PSKY to SKYD.
The new entity is expected to carry more than $80 billion in debt. It will be controlled by David Ellison, his father Larry Ellison and RedBird Capital Partners founder Gerry Cardinale. Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are set to hold a combined 38.5 percent stake.
