Paramount-Warner Bros. transaction closes, creating a new Hollywood colossus

David Ellison emerged with his prized Hollywood juggernaut on Tuesday as the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed. The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his family's growing portfolio. Ellison's small Paramount fended off the deep-pocketed streaming giant Netflix, hundreds of Hollywood merger opponents and, ultimately, a group of 12 state attorneys general, led by California's Rob Bonta, to stitch up the coveted acquisition.