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A High-Stakes Gambit Clinched Paramount’s Warner Deal

wsj.com · Joe Flint · last updated

David Ellison’s megadeal combining Paramount and Warner Bros. closed Tuesday, ushering in a new era for Hollywood

David Ellison was on the ropes.

It was late July, and a judge had handed down a temporary restraining order halting the media mogul’s $81 billion deal to combine his Paramount SKYD -6.72%decrease; down pointing triangle entertainment company with the much larger Warner Bros. Discovery—an early setback in his antitrust battle with 12 state attorneys general.

Faced with a choice between going straight to trial or stepping into another skirmish to avoid a preliminary injunction, Ellison, 43, took the big gamble.

He would see the states, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, in court. 

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