Elon Musk reportedly invests about $1 billion in Skydance
Elon Musk just put about $1 billion into Skydance.
The short version
- The giant new studio faces a massive debt burden.
- The funding comes as co-CEOs merge major film units.
- They plan deep cuts across two huge streaming platforms.
Why it matters to you. For business owners watching the media giants, it is a reminder of how deep pockets back massive corporate restructurings when billions in debt are on the line.
Elon Musk has made an investment in Skydance of roughly $1 billion, according to a report from Semafor. The financial injection comes as the company looks to cut costs following a massive corporate merger. Paramount closed its acquisition of Warner Bros.
Discovery on Oct. 6, naming the combined entity Skydance. Co-CEOs David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz are tasked with merging two major film studios in Paramount and Warner Bros., alongside two popular streaming platforms in Paramount+ and HBO Max, plus a host of corporate functions supporting TV networks and two news divisions.
Skydance has said it expects to see $6 billion in cost savings over three years, though it faces a debt burden of nearly $80 billion. Musk's commitment is part of a wider effort by Skydance to raise equity investments. Representatives for Musk and Skydance did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment on the deal.
The investment builds on existing ties between the tech billionaires. Larry Ellison, the billionaire co-founder of Oracle, has a history with Musk after investing $1 billion in Musk's 2022 deal to purchase Twitter, now called X. Larry Ellison also invested in Tesla in 2018 and served on the company's board of directors.
The elder Ellison also personally guaranteed more than $40 billion of equity financing in Paramount's offer to take over WBD.
