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David Ellison wasted no time in adding the Skydance name to the iconic Warner Bros. water tower in Burbank.
On Tuesday morning, shortly after Paramount officially closed its $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery
to form Skydance, the famous landmark on the Warner Bros. studio lot was updated with a new line: “A Skydance Corporation.”
There’s precedent for the move: After Ellison closed Skydance Media’s takeover of Paramount Global in August 2025, the water tower on the Paramount Pictures Studios lot in Hollywood was updated to add “A Skydance Corporation” as well. That indicates, by the way, that Ellison’s plan all along was to rename a merged Paramount-WBD as Skydance, the name of the film production firm he founded in 2006.
Here’s a photo of workers adding the Skydance name to the WB water tower:
The merger — which had been opposed by many actors, filmmakers and other industry professionals — brings together the two major studios; TV networks including CBS, CNN, Comedy Central, MTV and TNT; and streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max. The new Skydance will have annual revenue of nearly $70 billion, according to the company, but it also will have to manage paying down some $80 billion in net debt.
The Ellison family, with the backing of Larry Ellison, David’s multibillionaire father, holds the largest equity stake in Skydance. The Ellisons and investment firm RedBird Capital Partners together are the sole holders of Paramount Class A common stock, which gives them 100% control of the combined company’s voting shares.
David Ellison, who is the new Skydance’s chairman and CEO, and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz (formerly chief exec of Mattel) sent a lengthy memo to employees at the combined company Tuesday morning. They outlined their goals for Skydance, while acknowledging that there will be job cuts coming as a result of integrating the operations of Paramount and Warner Bros.
“Integrating two companies will bring change, including difficult decisions that affect our workforce,” the execs wrote in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by Variety. “We are committed to handling this process thoughtfully and respectfully.”
In a town hall Tuesday with employees of the former Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, which was livestreamed around the globe, both Ellison and Kreiz also delivered remarks from L.A.
“Let’s be honest – it wasn’t easy to get here,” Ellison told staffers of the new Skydance, according to a source. “At times it was downright ugly. And at nearly every turn, someone told us it couldn’t be done. And here we are.” He continued: “I’m not telling you this to relive it. I’m telling you because every setback, every hard night, every moment when it would have been easier to walk away, was worth it. I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. Why? Because of what we now get to build together.”
The town hall included a Q&A session with the two execs, moderated by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.
