Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison and his tech billionaire dad Larry Ellison have been sued by a Paramount shareholder who alleged they cut an “illegal” deal with President Donald Trump to secure U.S. governmental approval for the takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The shareholder lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Delaware Chancery Court, seeks to block Paramount’s $111 billion merger with WBD and also seeks unspecified monetary damages. According to the suit, the Ellisons allegedly promised “illegal private benefits to President Trump in order to remove federal regulatory barriers.”
Per the lawsuit, the Ellisons’ side deal with Trump included “the opportunity to improperly funnel cash” to to the president by settling his legal claims against CNN, as well as promises that CNN anchors whom Trump does not like would be fired after the WBD takeover. “The Ellisons’ actions not only harm the reputations of the news outlets they currently own, which are hemorrhaging viewers, but they are latent liabilities waiting to be triggered by a future administration,” the suit says.
Reps for Paramount Skydance, Oracle and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Trump is not named as a defendant.)
