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The new owners of Paramount want to quickly expand their media empire – with the recently flushed billionaire Larry Ellison and his son, David, preparing a bid to buy struggling rival Warner Bros. Discovery.
The Ellisons are looking to make a mostly all-cash offer to WBD boss David Zaslav, The Post confirmed on Thursday.
The bid will be for the entire company, which includes Hollywood studio Warner Bros., as well as cable channels such as CNN and HBO, sources said.
Paramount Skydance declined to comment, while Warner Bros. did not respond to requests for comment.
Nonetheless, news of the potential merger, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, sent shares of Warner Bros. soaring 29%.
The newly formed Paramount Skydance, led by David Ellison, jumped 16%
News of the merger comes a day after his dad, the co-founder and chairman of Oracle, raked in nearly $100 billion on Wednesday after the company reported blowout earnings.
WBD, which has $35 billion in debt following its merger in 2022, is worth $41 billion.
A deal would reshape the media landscape, putting some of the biggest brands in news and entertainment under the same roof. It would unite two storied Hollywood studios, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., and possibly bring together news networks CNN and CBS News.
The merger of the two ratings-challenged news outlets, however, could be frowned upon by regulators, industry insiders told The Post.
Zaslav had been fielding offers for at least part of his debt-laden WBD empire for some time, the sources said.
Media maven Jay Penske, who owns among other properties Variety, Hollywood Reporter and Rolling Stone, is said to have expressed interest in CNN.
But Zaslav believed Penske was low-balling him and thought he could get more for the property if he held out for a while longer, according to a source.
“Zas has one idea of what CNN is worth, and Penske had his and it was a lot lower,” said one media industry insider who asked not to be named.
A rep for Penske and Zaslav had no immediate comment.
David Ellison, who took the reins of Paramount last month after the long-stalled deal was finally approved by the FCC, has been circling Warner Bros. Discovery for some time, another person with knowledge told The Post.
He is looking for ways to strengthen Paramount Skydance’s film slate – which is known for the “Mission Impossible” franchise and “Top Gun Maverick” – and beefing up its streaming reach, while slashing costs and restructuring its struggling Paramount+ service, the source said.
The potential bid comes at a precarious time for Warner Bros. Discovery. The company is in the process of reorganizing its media empire by hiving off its cable networks from its streaming and studio business.
The split is slated for April 2026, and it follows a similar move from rival Comcast, which is preparing to spin off its cable assets, including MSNBC and CNBC later this year, from NBC, streaming service Peacock and Universal Pictures.
Since acquiring Paramount in the $8.4 billion deal, which was partially backed by his super-rich dad, the younger Ellison has worked quickly to transform the media giant.
The company inked a deal to license rights from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as well as reached a long-term agreement with the creators of “South Park,” which airs on its Comedy Central channel.
Additionally, Ellison has been in talks to acquire The Free Press, a right-of-center news site founded by Bari Weiss.
He has also been ironing out a deal to bring Weiss to CBS News as editor in chief or co-president– in a deal that is “weeks away,” a source close to the situation told The Post earlier this week.
