David Ellison To Control Paramount When Merger Completes

Independent filmmaker David Ellison will control his family’s stake in Paramount Global once his Skydance Media completes its merger with the larger movie and TV company.

Bloomberg reports the Ellison family on Tuesday amended a filing with the Federal Communication Commission to show that Ellison, and not his father Larry, will control their voting interest.

David Ellison

Ellison is merging his company into Paramount in a series of transactions. The Ellisons, and their partner RedBird Capital Partners, are buying out the Redstone family’s National Amusements Inc., which owns the majority of the voting stock in Paramount.

The partners are using additional cash to acquire some Paramount shares from stockholders and invest directly in the business.

An earlier filing with the commission said Larry Ellison, the billionaire co-founder of Oracle Corp., would be the controlling shareholder.

Paramount owns TV networks including CBS and MTV, as well as its namesake film studio. Like a lot of legacy media companies, Paramount has struggled as consumers shift from traditional TV to streaming services

The Redstone family decided to cede control of the company that was put together by Sumner Redstone, the late father of Paramount Chair Shari Redstone. The merger with Skydance is expected to close in the first half of next year.