Overview
- The acquisition formally closed on Tuesday, October 6, with Warner Bros. Discovery now a wholly owned unit of the combined company that is trading on the NYSE as SKYD.
- David Ellison will lead Skydance as chairman and CEO with Ynon Kreiz as co‑CEO and the company announced a new senior leadership team and board that includes Laurene Powell Jobs and Bobby Kotick.
- Skydance told staff in a Day‑1 memo that integration will require “difficult decisions,” and company executives are targeting about $6 billion in annualized cost savings over roughly three years, signaling likely layoffs and cuts to overlap roles.
- The closing followed a negotiated settlement with 12 state attorneys general that runs five years and requires at least 30 theatrical releases per year (rising to 32), additional U.S. production spending, studio‑lot protections and an independent monitor to enforce newsroom and workforce commitments.
- Skydance plans to unify HBO Max, Paramount+ and Discovery+ into a single direct‑to‑consumer streamer over time and to combine both companies’ games and experiences units under a new division led by Tony Driscoll, changes that will reshape content distribution, pricing and jobs across studios and vendors.