President Donald Trump officially approves the Paramount-WBD merger. The prez gave a massive thumbs-up to Paramount’s megamerger with Warner Bros. Discovery, which closed on Tuesday to form Skydance Corp.
Per Varietywhen he was informed that the deal had officially been closed, Trump told reporters on the lawn of the White House, “I’m happy about that. That’s great. It’s gonna be a great company. They’re terrific people, and it’s gonna be a great company. That’s a great merger. I’m glad they let it go.”
Trump is reportedly friends with David Ellison, the CEO and chairman of Skydance Corporation, and his father, Larry Ellison, the co-founder, chairman, and chief technology officer of software giant Oracle Corporation.
How Paramount-WBD finally reached the finish line
Trump’s Justice Department officially approved the Paramount-WBD deal in June. The department did so without any conditions, despite the growing media outrage due to the merger.
The deal passed its final roadblock after Paramount reached a settlement with 12 Democratic state attorneys general to resolve their antitrust lawsuit seeking to block the Warner Bros. Discovery takeover. A judge approved the settlement on September 30.
David Ellison even said publicly that he believed the states’ AGs’ litigation was politically motivated, fueled by the alleged fears that he might try to turn CNN into some Trump-friendly mouthpiece.
In a New York Times op-ed shared on August 4, he wrote, “I believe this fight is not really about market share. I believe a plainer worry sits beneath the briefs and the news releases: the news. The issue is whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner’s CNN.”
David even pledged that CNN and CBS News journalists “will continue to answer to the facts and to all the people they serve — not to any party or cause.”