Larry Ellison has stepped into the ring with a bold, unmistakable move, personally guaranteeing roughly $40.4 billion to back Paramount Skydance’s hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, turning what critics called a shaky financing plan into a rock-solid pledge. This is capitalism at its finest — a private individual taking responsibility and putting real skin in the game rather than hiding behind vague trusts and flimsy assurances.
Paramount’s amendment makes explicit that Ellison will not revoke the family trust or transfer its assets while the deal is pending, and the company even increased its reverse termination fee to $5.8 billion while extending the tender deadline to January 21, 2026. These are not cosmetic tweaks; they address the very objections Warner’s board raised about financing certainty and show a seriousness of purpose that regulators and shareholders can evaluate.
Let’s be blunt: Paramount’s $30 per share all-cash proposal, valuing the offer at about $77.9 billion before debt, remains plainly superior on its face to the Netflix option in terms of immediate cash to shareholders, and it preserves the company as a single, whole enterprise rather than carving it up. Shareholders deserve the clearest path to value, and anyone who claims otherwise is either protecting their turf or afraid of competition.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s board complained that the Ellison family trust was revocable and therefore insufficient, but Larry Ellison’s irrevocable personal guarantee undercuts that defense and removes the “smoke and mirrors” charge. Corporate boards too often act like self-appointed guardians of the status quo, more interested in preserving their cozy arrangements than in forcing real value for shareholders — this move should make them sweat.
Conservatives should appreciate the raw clarity of this moment: a successful American entrepreneur is using his considerable resources to challenge entrenched corporate deals and to offer an alternative rooted in accountability and investment. It’s proof that the free market, when unshackled, produces decisive outcomes and opportunities for real growth rather than bureaucratic settlements.
Markets reacted exactly as one would expect when capital shows up: Paramount-Skydance stock jumped, Warner Bros. Discovery shares rose, and Netflix took a modest hit as investors recalibrated risk and value. That response tells you everything about where confidence lies — with those willing to put money where their mouth is, not with boardroom platitudes.
There will be noise about regulators, antitrust and political intervention, and sure, this fight isn’t going to be settled by headlines alone. But Washington should think twice before reflexively kneecapping big U.S. companies’ ability to compete; Americans deserve competition, not the consolidation of power into a handful of streaming monopolies that dictate culture and content.
At the end of the day, Larry Ellison’s guarantee is a welcome reminder that private capital — accountable, decisive, and unapologetically American — remains the engine of growth. Shareholders and patriots alike should be watching closely and rewarding those who choose to fight for value and for the preservation of an independent, robust American entertainment industry.
