Paramount Skydance president David Ellison and his tech billionaire father Larry Ellison are being sued by Paramount shareholders for allegedly striking an “illegal” deal with President Donald Trump to gain U.S. government approval for the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition.
The shareholder lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Delaware Court of Chancery, seeks to block the $111 billion merger between Paramount and WBD and also seeks unspecified monetary damages. The complaint alleges that the Ellisons promised “illegal personal benefits to President Trump to remove federal regulatory barriers.”
According to the complaint, the deal between the Ellisons and Trump included an “opportunity to illegally funnel cash” to the president by resolving legal claims against CNN, as well as a promise to fire CNN anchors Trump didn’t like after the acquisition of WBD. “The Ellisons’ actions not only tarnish the reputation of the news organization they currently own and cause haemorrhage to their viewers, but they are a potential liability waiting to be incurred by future administrations,” the complaint states.
The complaint was filed a day after 12 Democratic state attorneys general filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the Paramount-WBD merger on antitrust grounds, saying it would give the combined company undue control over the theatrical and cable TV markets. WGA also filed a lawsuit seeking to block the merger, arguing that it would harm writers’ pay and job opportunities.
Representatives for Paramount Skydance, Oracle and the White House did not respond to requests for comment. (Trump has not been named as a defendant.)
Since the Paramount-Skydance deal closed in August 2025, “the Ellisons have remade CBS in the President’s likeness, purchased real estate enjoyed by the President, and even hosted events in his honor,” the complaint says. “This was a relief for the Ellisons, but appears to have been a blow to Paramount.”Larry Ellison was the primary financial backer of the Paramount Global acquisition and also personally backed the Warner Bros. acquisition.
Paramount’s proposed acquisition of WBD was given the go-ahead by the U.S. Department of Justice in mid-June, with no requirements for a sale or other concessions on Paramount Skydance. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, top Justice Department officials ignored Paramount WBD’s request over the objections of junior department attorneys who sought to challenge the deal.
Federal regulators took a decidedly hands-off approach to reviewing the Paramount-WBD merger after President Trump indicated he preferred Paramount to buy WBD over Netflix’s deal to buy Warner Bros.’ streaming and studio businesses, the complaint says. According to the complaint, Paramount has raised $24 billion from sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, but there is no indication that the deal has been reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The three Middle East funds will hold a combined 38.5% stake in Paramount and Warner Bros., Paramount said. Paramount previously said a CFIUS review was not warranted because foreign investors supporting the WBD bid would not have board seats or voting rights.
The shareholder lawsuit says the lack of scrutiny of Paramount and WBD’s transactions poses a risk to Paramount investors. “Future presidential administrations are likely to subject these ownership structures to intense and persistent scrutiny, exposing Paramount to significant long-term risks,” the complaint said. “The court should exercise its impartial authority to prevent defendants from reaping personal benefits based on their illegal conduct.”
The Paramount investor named as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit is Paul Robbins, who is represented by Thomas Roe, the Public Integrity Project, and the Freedom of the Press Foundation. A copy of the complaint is available at this link.
“The economic terms of this merger alone do not make sense for Paramount’s shareholders,” Seth Stern, advocacy director at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement about the lawsuit. It makes even less sense given the reported promises made to the president. CNN and CBS viewers want real journalism, and if Paramount’s news networks are watered down to appease the administration, they will stop tuning in.” That way, there would be less information for the public. ”
Brendan Ballou, CEO of the Public Integrity Project, commented: “America’s wealthiest people want America’s most important news organization to become the president’s propaganda machine. This is bad for Paramount’s shareholders. This is bad for democracy. And this is deep corruption. This lawsuit aims to expose and stop that corruption.”
In addition to David and Larry Ellison, the lawsuit names Paramount Skydance board members Jerry Cardinale, Safra Catz, Andrew Brandon-Gordon, Paul Marinelli, John Thornton, Barbara Byrne, Andrew Campion, Justin Hamill, and Sherry Lansing as defendants.
According to the complaint, Robbins’ derivative lawsuit seeks to prevent “Lawrence and David Ellison, the controlling shareholders of Paramount,” from profiting from Paramount’s breach of their fiduciary duty as a controlling shareholder, and David Ellison, as CEO and chairman of Paramount Skydance, “prevents David Ellison from profiting from his breach of his fiduciary duty as a shareholder.” Paramount Director.” “The entire Paramount Board of Directors, as currently established, is here to prevent the consummation of a merger transaction with Warner Bros. Discovery (the “Merger”) that would enable Paramount’s trustees to profit from an illegal bribery scheme in violation of their duty of loyalty to Paramount and otherwise in violation of Delaware’s core corporate law.” ”
According to the complaint, plaintiff Paul Robbins is currently a stockholder in Paramount and has been a “continuing stockholder in Paramount prior to the Aug. 7, 2025 merger of Paramount Global and Skydance,” which formed Paramount Skydance.
