Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison offers a financial guarantee of 40.4 billion dollars to support Paramount's bid to acquire Warner Bros

Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, intervened to support the Paramount Skydance offer to acquire Warner Bros Discovery, providing a financial guarantee of $40.4 billion. This measure aims to alleviate the concerns of the Warner Bros board regarding the financing of the deal and the lack of support from the Ellison family, which led the company to a competing offer from Netflix. Following the announcement of the guarantee, Warner Bros shares rose by 3%, while Paramount's shares increased by 7%.

Paramount mentioned that the $30 per share offer remains unchanged, despite the intensifying competition for Hollywood assets. Ellison committed not to revoke the family trust and not to transfer assets during the transaction. Paramount raised the termination fee in case of failure to $5.8 billion and extended the offer deadline to January 21, 2026.

Warner Bros asked shareholders to reject Paramount's $108.4 billion offer, citing doubts related to financing. Some investors, including Harris Associates, may be open to a revised offer. Gaining shareholder support is just the first hurdle, as both transactions will be subject to strict scrutiny by competition authorities in the US and Europe. A merger between Paramount and Warner Bros would create a studio larger than Disney, while a merger with Netflix would strengthen that platform's dominance in streaming.