Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison made his first formal appearance before Warner Bros. Discovery executives on Tuesday, talking about Paramount’s pending $111 billion deal with WBD and fielding about a dozen questions from the crowd.
The meeting began with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav introducing Ellison. About 160 executives were in attendance at the Stephen J. Ross Theater on Warner’s studio campus in Burbank, with more than 300 more participating via video conference.
Ellison spoke for about 10 minutes about the deal, reiterating points he has made publicly in the past, including that he expects Paramount and Warner Bros. to combine to produce 30 films a year (15 from each studio). He also praised HBO as the “gold standard of television,” according to a person familiar with his remarks.
At the end of his opening remarks, Ellison said he understands the M&A battle WBD has been embroiled in in recent months has been a “tumultuous process” since Netflix signed a streaming deal with WB Studios in December, with Paramount being the winning bidder two weeks ago. But, the people added, “that part is behind us.”
Ellison then took questions from Warner Bros. Discovery executives. He was asked how many jobs he expects Paramount to make at WBD, especially given that Paramount Skydance made significant layoffs after the deal closed. Ellison reiterated that Paramount expects to save more than $6 billion as a result of the merger. He could not provide an estimate of the number of future layoffs, but maintained that most of the cost synergies would not come from layoffs.
“He was, in my opinion, a pretty honest and straightforward guy,” said one WBD executive who attended. “He seemed like the real deal,” the source said, adding that “people wanted more specificity” about layoffs and a new management structure going forward, but Paramount was restricted from making those kinds of detailed plans because of a ban on “jumping the gun” in the pre-merger period.
During a Q&A session moderated by Robert Gibbs, director of communications for Warner Bros. Discovery, Ellison was asked about the proposed combination of HBO Max and Paramount+. Ellison said he would like to talk with teams from both companies about what a combined streaming business would look like.
Additionally, there was a question about Ellison’s future plans for CNN. Ellison reiterated his comments last week, saying the news organization would maintain editorial independence.
One Warner Bros. attendee said after Ellison’s speech, “I’m glad there weren’t any surprises.”
Paramount officials said they received good feedback from Ellison’s WBD presentation, with some noting Ellison’s extensive knowledge across the industry.
Paramount said it expects the deal with WBD to close in the third quarter of 2026. The company agreed to pay shareholders a “ticking fee” of 25 cents per share for each subsequent quarter that the transaction is not completed.
