Paramount Considers Elon Musk for Equity Stake in Warner Bros. Merger

Paramount has considered asking billionaire Elon Musk to take an equity stake in its upcoming merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, according to multiple reports, as the deal’s lead financiers seek additional capital ahead of an expected close within two weeks.

The discussions, first reported by Semafor and confirmed by The New York Post and TheWrap, involve approaching Musk as one of several wealthy individuals who could join the syndicate backing the transaction. The size of any potential investment from Musk has not been determined and could not be learned, the reports said.

Musk is a longtime friend of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, father of Paramount CEO David Ellison. The elder Ellison has already committed more than $40 billion of the merger’s equity financing and provided a personal guarantee on that amount. Larry Ellison previously invested $1 billion in Musk’s 2022 acquisition of X, formerly Twitter, and served on Tesla’s board from 2018 to 2022, according to the sources. NDTV Profit reported that Musk is often described as a mentee of Larry Ellison.

The merger—valued at $110 billion, per TheWrap—is financed through $47 billion in equity and $54 billion in debt. The equity syndicate includes three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and a fund managed by LionTree Investment Fund, none of which will hold board seats or governance rights. According to TheWrap, foreign investors will own 49.5% of the non-voting equity in the combined company, with 38.5% of that controlled by sovereign funds. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will hold 15.1%, the United Arab Emirates’ L’imad Holding Company 12.8%, and the Qatar Investment Authority 10.6%. The equity is backstopped by the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners.

Larry Ellison’s personal exposure has raised the prospect of bringing in additional investors such as Musk to diversify the capital base and reduce the burden on the controlling family.

The potential involvement of Musk—the world’s wealthiest person, with a net worth of $949.5 billion as of Wednesday, per Forbes—has stirred internal unease at CNN, a property that will be part of the combined company. The New York Post reported that CNN staffers are already panicked over expected layoffs and leadership changes under David Ellison. One CNN source told the Post: “Amazing it comes out now of course,” adding that the timing is a “bad look” for California Governor Gavin Newsom, who backed the deal as part of a settlement that required Paramount to pledge increased domestic production and the creation of independent editorial boards for CBS News and CNN.

A separate CNN source was quoted as saying: “It’s really scary given what he did at X and DOGE.”

Musk was involved with the Trump administration and helped lead and publicize the Department of Government Efficiency, NDTV Profit reported, underscoring the political implications of his entry into a media company that owns CBS News and is acquiring CNN.

The merger cleared a major legal hurdle this week when Paramount reached a settlement with California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 other states over an antitrust lawsuit, the sources said. The settlement requires Paramount to spend an additional $1.5 billion on domestic production over five years and release at least 30 films theatrically per year, including 20 blockbusters and four independent films, according to the New York Post. If those thresholds are not met, Paramount could be forced to sell Miramax Studios.

Representatives for Paramount declined to comment on the Musk discussions. Musk did not respond to requests for comment from TheWrap.

The combined entity—under David Ellison’s control—will own HBO Max, Paramount+, HBO, CBS, CNN, and a vast library of film and television content, positioning Ellison as one of the most powerful figures in the entertainment industry. A Musk investment, while still speculative, would add another high-profile name to a deal already marked by sovereign wealth funds and family office backing, potentially shifting the dynamics of both the financing and the political reception of the merger.