Tesla founder among wealthy individuals named by Semafor who may be tapped to support Warner Bros Discovery acquisition
Paramount chief exec David Ellison is considering approaching Elon Musk to support his acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, according to a report by Semafor.
Tesla and Space X chief Musk is one of a number of “wealthy individuals” whom Ellison is mulling over as potential investors in the combined US studio.
David Ellison’s father Larry, founder of Oracle, has already guaranteed almost $47bn in equity financing to support the acquisition, with a further $24bn secured from the Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE sovereign wealth funds.
The funding of the WBD deal means 49.5% of the combined company’s equity will be held by non-US firms.
Semafor’s report did not contain details of how much Musk might be asked to invest nor of the other individuals concerned.
Paramount declined to comment on the story, with the news coming just days after Ellison overcame one of the final hurdles in his year-long battle to acquire WBD when Paramount settled an antitrust lawsuit against the acquisition led by California attorney general, Rob Bonta.
The case will be heard by a judge on Thursday, when details of the settlement will be confirmed.
If approved, the $111bn takeover will be able to move forward at pace, with Paramount chief exec Ellison expecting the acquisition to close within weeks.
Musk’s potential involvement in the Paramount-WBD deal has raised concerns Stateside, with the combined company owner of major news outlets including CNN and CBS News.
Ellison’s billionaire father David Ellison, founder of Oracle, previously partnered with Musk when he invested $1bn in the takeover of Twitter, since renamed X.
No comments yet