Larry Ellison offers $40.4 bn personal guarantee to back Paramount’s WBD bid

In the latest twist in the Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) takeover tussle, Paramount Skydance has said that Oracle Co-founder Larry Ellison will personally guarantee $40.4 billion in equity financing to support its $108.4 billion all-cash acquisition offer, media networks have reported.

The move comes nearly a week after WBD’s board urged shareholders to reject Paramount Skydance’s hostile bid, calling it “inferior” and “inadequate.” The board had also disputed Paramount’s claim that the offer was fully guaranteed by the Ellison family.

Read e4m report on the Netflix-WBD deal

As per reports, Paramount has said its proposal is “superior” and clarified that Larry Ellison has agreed to provide an irrevocable personal guarantee covering $40.4 billion of the equity financing, as well as any potential damages claims against Paramount.

Larry Ellison is the father of David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount.

Read why WBD shareholders were against the Paramount deal

On Dec 17, it was reported that Warner Bros. Discovery was preparing to advise its shareholders to reject a hostile takeover bid from Paramount Skydance, citing concerns around financing certainty, regulatory risk and the overall structure of the offer.

The Warner Bros board had concluded that Paramount’s tender offer does not match the value or certainty provided by the company’s existing agreement with Netflix. 

Earlier this month, it was announced that Netflix would acquire Warner Bros for a cash and stock transaction valued at $27.75 per WBD share. The total enterprise value stood at approximately $82.7 billion.

It was announced that the transaction is expected to close after the previously announced separation of WBD’s Global Networks division, Discovery Global, into a new publicly-traded company, which is now expected to be completed in Q3 2026.