The merger is no longer pending
Paramount’s $81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery has closed, making the deal official rather than merely proposed. The transaction placed CNN, HBO, Warner Bros., Discovery, and other major brands under the same corporate roof as CBS and Paramount. The new parent company is Skydance Corporation. David Ellison serves as chairman and CEO, while Ynon Kreiz, the former Warner Bros. Discovery chief, serves alongside him as co-CEO. Skydance said the combined company began trading Tuesday under the ticker symbol SKYD and described it as a global entertainment and technology leader. That is a lot of corporate wallpaper for one closing, but the basic point is simple: CNN is now part of a much larger company.
🚨 BREAKING: CNN is now OFFICIALLY under the corporate ownership of TRUMP ALLIES
LMAO!!
Paramount just CLOSED its $81 BILLION purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, forming Skydance
David Ellison is chairman and CEO — his family and RedBird hold 100% of the voting shares.
CNN,… pic.twitter.com/5IJjYaDls3
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 6, 2026
Voting control is the key detail
The most politically charged detail is the ownership structure. The Ellison family, led by Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, and RedBird Capital Partners hold 100 percent of the voting shares in the new company, according to reporting on the completed transaction. That gives the group full voting control at the corporate level. Larry Ellison has been a prominent supporter and longtime ally of President Donald Trump. Yet Trump does not own CNN himself. The precise claim is narrower and more defensible: CNN now sits inside a company whose voting power is held by an ownership group with a powerful family closely aligned with Trump. The source also says sovereign wealth funds connected to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are expected to hold large indirect economic interests without voting rights. Money and votes are not the same thing, although corporate structures often make that distinction feel designed by a committee.
BREAKING: Paramount closes its $81 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, forming a new Hollywood giant called Skydance. https://t.co/15EcB8Qmv1
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 6, 2026
CNN’s new corporate neighborhood
An SEC filing says Warner Bros. Discovery became a wholly owned Skydance subsidiary when the merger took effect on October 6. Each outstanding Warner Bros. Discovery share was converted into the right to receive the merger consideration under the agreement’s terms, replacing the old public-company structure. The $81 billion figure is the purchase price. Including debt, the total value approaches $111 billion, making this one of the largest media combinations ever completed. The resulting portfolio includes CNN, CBS, HBO, Paramount, Warner Bros., Discovery, Showtime, DC Studios, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, MTV, Comedy Central, HGTV, TBS, TLC, and Food Network. CNN’s news operation now shares a corporate portfolio with CBS News for the first time, while the combined company reaches audiences through theaters, broadcast television, cable networks, and global streaming services. The org chart is doing its best impression of a small country.
Paramount has closed its $81 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Billionaire David Ellison now controls:
—CNN
—CBS
—HBO
—Paramount
—Warner Bros
—Discovery
—Skydance
—Showtime
—DC Studios
—Nickelodeon
—Cartoon Network
—Food Network
—MTV
—Comedy Central
—HGTV
—TBS
—TLC pic.twitter.com/TwEXrCKRan— FactPost (@factpostnews) October 6, 2026
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