Tennessee Courts Paramount as Studio Weighs Relocation
The state is pitching tax and governance incentives to pull the studio’s headquarters and production spending at a moment when a coalition of state attorneys general has sued to block its $111 billion merger.
Overview
- Tennessee Deputy Governor Stuart McWhorter sent a formal invitation to Paramount’s CEO urging the company to consider moving its corporate headquarters and offering to detail incentives and a business-friendly climate.
- Paramount has confirmed the letter’s authenticity and advisers say the company is actively weighing a range of options, with relocation described internally as one possibility.
- A coalition of 12 state attorneys general has filed suit seeking to block Paramount’s roughly $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on competition grounds.
- Paramount earlier proposed producing 30 films a year with a 45-day theatrical window as a concession to California, a proposal that state officials rejected.
- A headquarters move or a shift in where the studio spends its roughly $30 billion on production could redirect major work and jobs away from California and toward competitors such as New York, New Jersey, the U.K., Canada or Tennessee, where executives and nearby Oracle investment create local ties.