Upon the deal’s closing, Skydance and its financial partners are set inject $1.5 billion in cash into Paramount. However, that’s intended to go toward reducing Paramount’s long-term debt ($14.16 billion as of Q1 of 2025) to help stabilize its balance sheet.

Skydance said this week it planned to add an ombudsman who would review “any complaints of bias” and end diversity, equity and inclusion programs targeted by the Trump administration.

The Larry Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners are expected to take control of Paramount in the coming days. David Ellison, 42, will serve as chairman and chief executive.

With the FCC having cleared the Skydance Media-Paramount merger and the deal set to close in a matter of weeks, Paramount Global co-CEO Chris McCarthy will leave the media conglomerate, a company source confirmed to Variety.

McCarthy became co-CEO of Paramount, alongside George Cheeks and Brian Robbins, in April 2024. The trio took on the role after the ouster of Bob Bakish as the company was in its first round of negotiations with Skydance. McCarthy is also president of Showtime/MTV Entertainment and oversees the company’s streaming platforms Paramount+ and Pluto TV.

Paramount’s cable business has cratered. The news division is in turmoil. A.I. is coming for movies. And those are just the obvious challenges facing David Ellison as he takes control.

After an intense, scandal-plagued acquisition, here's what David Ellison gets in Skydance's acquisition of Paramount Global.

South Park” targeted President Trump and Paramount Global in its latest episode this week, poking fun at the president for targeting his enemies and at one point depicting him in bed