Report: PSKY Exit Would Devastate Calif Economy

A leaked Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation report warns that moving Paramount Skydance out of California would cost the state thousands of jobs and billions of dollars, with immediate losses of 2,750 to 5,550 job-years and $1.01 billion to $2.03 billion in economic output from Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2031.

Once a full relocation of headquarters and other operations was complete, California would permanently lose about 28,990 to 57,980 full-time jobs across all industries and $10.6 billion to $21.2 billion in annual economic output, according to the report published by Variety.

The analysis follows David Ellison’s threat to leave the state unless California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of other state attorneys general settle their lawsuit seeking to block Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Ellison set an Oct. 1 deadline to start the move and has pointed to Georgia, Texas and Tennessee as possible destinations.

On that date, Paramount Skydance also begins paying a $7 million-a-day “ticking fee” to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders until the deal closes. A trial is set for March 2; without a settlement, that fee could total about $1.3 billion.

Settlement talks briefly appeared to gain traction in late August when Bonta and Ellison scheduled an Aug. 24 meeting. Bonta canceled it at the last minute, accusing Paramount of leaking discussion details. The company denied the claim. Bonta said he will not resume talks until Paramount puts a “lid on their lying leaks.”