David Ellison will fully control the combined Paramount-Skydance after the deal closes: submission

David Ellison will take full control of Paramount Global when it merges with his company, Skydance Media, according to a new regulatory filing.

According to a Federal Communications Commission filing on Tuesday, Ellison’s role will be chairman and CEO of the new Paramount, combining the assets of Hollywood production company Skydance and Paramount, home of CBS, Showtime and MTV, after the deal closes in the first half of 2025. .

The filing said Ellison will retain 100% of his family’s voting interest — a clarification that comes amid potential concerns over the control that resides with his father, billionaire Oracle co-founder and CEO Larry Ellison.

An earlier version of the filing, which deals with the transfer of broadcast licenses for nine television stations, showed Larry Ellison at the top of a chart detailing Paramount’s ownership structure after the transaction.

Skydance, with partner RedBird Capital, secured a merger agreement with Shari Redstone in August.

Larry Ellison is the main backer of Skydance and investor in the acquisition of Paramount. As a result, the family will control the majority – 77% – of the combined company.

The revised FCC filing clarifies how the Ellison family will exercise control over the so-called “New Paramount” and the voting interests of the Redstone family’s holding company, National Amusements, which controls the media firm.

The filing said that once the deal closes, David Ellison will take the reins as Paramount’s chairman and chief executive.

He will also become the “sole manager” of the Ellison family entities (Hikouki, LLC, Furaito, LLC and Aozora, LLC), through which the Ellison family will own and control NAI and New Paramount.

As the sole manager of these entities, “David Ellison will retain 100% of the Ellison Family’s voting interests in NAI and New Paramount, in addition to serving as Chairman and CEO of New Paramount,” the filing said.

Redstone began shopping Paramount last year and entertained a handful of potential suitors in what became a long and drawn-out process that culminated in late summer with Skydance coming out on top.

Ellison is expected to work closely with his father and his company, Oracle, to help shape his vision for an entertainment company that is a hybrid of media technology.