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Paramount is planning to invite Elon Musk to join the group of equity investors backing its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, said a Semafor report citing sources familiar with the matter.
Executives at Paramount have discussed asking Musk to become part of a syndicate of investors as the company looks to diversify its funding base while it tries to close the Warner Bros. deal.
Musk’s name is one of several wealthy individuals Paramount CEO David Ellison has considered approaching, the report said.
The size of a potential Musk investment could not be determined, the report added.
A relationship built on past deals
The talks trace back to a long relationship between Musk and Larry Ellison, the Oracle co-founder and father of Paramount CEO David Ellison.
The elder Ellison has been central to financing Paramount’s Warner Bros. bid, personally guaranteeing more than $40 billion of the equity financing.
Ellison and Musk have backed each other’s ventures before.
Ellison invested $1 billion in Musk’s 2022 deal to take Twitter, now X, private, and also invested in Tesla in 2018, serving on its board for several years.
Why Paramount needs more cash
Forbes reported earlier this year that Larry Ellison may not actually have enough liquid cash to fully cover his roughly $45.7 billion equity commitment to the deal without selling down his Oracle holdings.
Ellison has sold only about $4.7 billion of Oracle stock this century and holds less than $10 billion in cash, according to Forbes’ analysis, leaving Oracle shares as his most likely funding source if the gap needs to be bridged.
Bringing in additional investors like Musk would ease that pressure directly.
Paramount has already brought in other outside backers for the broader deal.
Middle East Sovereign wealth funds: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are providing around $24 billion for Paramount’s bid, according to SEC filings.
Their investment, together with stakes held by other foreign investors, will bring overseas ownership in the combined company to 49.5%.
The deal is close to the finish line
The Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger cleared a major hurdle on September 21, when Paramount settled lawsuits brought by 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America, avoiding a scheduled March 2027 trial.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has said the deal could close within two weeks.
The transaction also faces a self-imposed deadline: Paramount must close by September 30, 2026, or pay a $7 million daily “ticking fee.”
Paramount Skydance shares rose about 2% Tuesday to close at $10.11.
However, the stock fell 1.49% on Wednesday,
Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the stock to $11.50 from $10 this week, while Barclays has maintained a Sell rating.
The political complication
A Musk investment would be a significant vote of confidence in the combined company from a businessman with a large retail investor following, and it would give Paramount a more diversified investor base while reducing Larry Ellison’s financial exposure, said the Semafor report.
But it carries political risk.
Musk’s financial and political influence, given his control of X, drew concern from Democrats during the 2024 election cycle.
Musk holding even a partial stake in a company that owns CNN and CBS would likely draw scrutiny in Washington, even though he would be unlikely to have any formal say over how the company operates.
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