The bidding war may be over, but the battle continues.
You might not recognise the name Larry Ellison, or his son, David Ellison, because the Ellisons are some of the quietest billionaires in Donald Trump’s nest, patriarch Larry co-founding the software company Oracle which licenses servers and manages data globally.
Meanwhile, Trump’s advisers describe the entrepreneur as a “shadow president of the United States.”
His son David founded Skydance Media in 2006, which would eventually merge with Paramount in 2025, and now with Warner Bros. in 2026.
In the hands of the Ellisons, Paramount Skydance made their allegiance to Donald Trump known, overhauling CBS and filling it with Trump Allies. Does the same fate await Warner Bros. Discovery?
Following a bidding war between Netflix and Paramount, Warner Bros. agreed to be acquired by Paramount Skydance last week.
The $110 billion deal was signed Friday, though the California Department of Justice continues to investigate the deal.
Intellectual property such as the DC Comics, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Batman, as well as film and TV production studios stand to be handed over to the Ellisons.
More concerningly, news outlets CNN and CBS are included in the deal.
When David Ellison’s initial texts to Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav were ghosted, his father called up Trump and slandered the Netflix deal, according to a White House official, telling him the take-over would hurt competition.
The Ellisons licked Trump’s boots, promising that his rival CNN would be radically changed, including new ownership and programming kinder to his leadership.
With the taste of leather still fresh in their mouth, it seems the Ellison’s have triumphed over Netflix.
Now owning one of the largest production companies, as well as holding a majority stake in Tik Tok, the Western World’s media has never been so tightly held by one voice.
The Trump administration shows no signs of slowing down in their quest to dominate the media landscape.
Recent blow-ups between talk show hosts and concerning government orders reveal a tightening grasp on political discussion.
The Warner Bros’ acquisition presents a worsening political future for defectors and those critical of a government falling apart on a global stage.
