THE VIEW FROM HERE - By now, everyone who reads CityWatch has heard that the owner of Paramount studios, David Ellison, is threatening to move Paramount to Texas or some other place East of Los Angeles. Most of our woefully inadequate media has failed to explain why Ellison would make such a threat, but then We the People have allowed what we call the mainstream media to become a farce. We’re stuck with ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox cable, CNN. Why? Because We the People settle for memes and lies and are too impatient to sit through a nuanced story. Now that I have chastised the entire American public, let’s return to David Ellison’s threat to hook up Paramount Studios to the back of his Ferarri LaFerrari and drag it to Texas.
Let’s Look Deeper into this Threat
Here are the basics. David Ellison bought Paramount Studios from. Shari Redstone. David used his much, much smaller production company Skydance to purchase Paramount Global with all its attached companies such as its failing streaming service. Shari Redstone (family name – Rothstein) wanted to get rid of Paramount due to its constant anti-Semitism plus the fact that it was headed downhill and she wanted to bail before it was worthless. David Ellison’s group paid $8 Billion.
Within a month of buying Paramount, Ellison launched a bid to buy Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD) despite the fact that Netflix had already had a deal to buy WBD. Netflix would pay $82.7 Billion, but Ellison offered to pay $111 Billion. David Ellison was worth only $500 Million. Yes, that was only millions. Just prior to Ellison’s purchase of Paramount, Skydance was worth $4.7 Billion. Yes, a mouse was buying a sick elephant and paying about $28 Billion above fair market value, but David had access to a lot more cash.
People were skeptical that Ellison could complete the deal. It would be the same foolishness if my teenage son tried to buy General Motors. My teenage son’s dad, however, is not David’s Daddy, Larry Ellison, whose worth fluctuates between $150 Billion and $300 Billion. Daddy Ellison gave Davey Boy an irrevocable $40 Billion guarantee to buy WBD?
Here’s Comes the Comedy, Narishkeit, Tonteria
Davey then guarantees to pay WBD $7 Million per day each and every day, starting on October 1, 2026, if the deal does not close. If the deal collapses, then Davey will owe a flat $7 Billion termination fee. That means Davey will have paid $8 Billion to purchase failing Paramount and $7 Billion to WBD for a total of $15 Billion dollars, and he will have bupkis. Davey insisted on these terms; they were not WBD’s idea. What could go wrong?
Enter Hubris, Arrogance, and Myopia
Daddy Ellison, (Oracle owner Larry Ellison), spoke to his friend Donald Trump, who we all know is so greatly loved and admired in Hollywood. Trump agreed that his personal Department of Justice would not object to David’s purchase. As soon as the Paramount - WBD deal closed, the California Attorney General and eleven other attorney generals all sued Davey. Previously, California alone had filed well over 100 lawsuits against Trump. Apparently, everyone except Ellison and his attorneys knew that California would sue any merger as it would drastically reduce employment in Hollywood.
The trial court judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín set trial for March 2, 2027, well after October 1, 2026, when Davey and Daddy would start incurring the $7 million a day fee. They can avoid paying the $7 million daily fee and instead pay $7 Billion and walk away. In homage to Blazing Saddles, where Cleavon Little holds a gun to his own head, Davey threatened suicide by moving Paramount out of California. Or, maybe he threatened to hold his breath until he turned blue.
Unless he can drag Paramount’s backlot, sound stages, etc. from Melrose Avenue to Texas, where will Davey set up shop? Does he really think that Dallas or Houston have full blown film and TV studios just sitting vacant waiting for someone to rent them? Studios totally dependent on thousands of independent companies and individuals on a project by project basis. Even if Daddy could magically make a new Texas Paramount Studios spring up, does he expect the workers to commute from Los Angeles? While moving the studio, Paramount, which can barely spare a dime, will shut down production for about 5 years until a new studio is constructed.
Can Davey Sell Paramount Facility on Melrose?
Of course, Netflix will be glad to buy it at fire sale prices. Then, Netflix and WBD will have a huge new backlot to produce more content for their streaming services with David’s $7 billion termination fee. Paramount cannot live without Hollywood, but Hollywood can live without Paramount.
Why David Ellison in this ludicrous situation where his only option, as far as he envisioned, is financial suicide? Daddy Ellison had six wives. David’s mother, Barbara Boothe, was #3 and she raised David alone until his father re-entered the picture when David was 13. Daddy bought David a real stunt airplane which he and David learned to fly. Prior to that, his mother had shielded David from wealth; she had him on a $5 allowance. She taught him the value of earning what he had. David was already transfixed on aerobatic stunt plane flying and he had to do nothing – nothing at all – get his own stunt plane and have acrobatic flying lessons – starting at 13?!?
We next encounter David just prior to graduation from University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Daddy pops up with a deal where Davey will co-star as an aerobatic pilot in a WW I movie, called FlyBoys. More than that – Daddy formed a production company, Skydance for Davey. David was billed as producing and starring in Flyboys – like some wunderkind. The cost of these unrequested gifts was for David to drop out of USC before graduation, a milestone which he had earned, but instead, David stepped into a make believe world which Daddy had engineered.
Skyboys Was Huge Flop
It cost $60 Million to make and netted only $18 Million. Because Daddy had painted an oversized picture of David’s role in producing, Hollywood blamed the rich kid who bought his way into Hollywood.
David was shocked and chastened by the experience and devoted years building his own Hollywood reputation as a sensible and prudent risk-mitigating co-financier for major Hollywood studios.
Re-Enter Daddy’s Money
When Skydance was facing the serious issue that David’s distribution outlet through Paramount was collapsing, Daddy showed up with billions of dollars. Fiasco ensued. Without his father’s meddling, David could not have bought Paramount. Without his father’s billions, David would not have tried to sabotage Netflix’s deal with WBD. Without Daddy’s unlimited cash, he would not have agreed to the $7 million a day ticking fee, or to pay $7 Billion if backed out of the deal.
Three times, of which we are aware, David was doing very well on his own until Daddy intervened and used his unlimited cash to change the course of David’s life, culminating in disaster. That seems more of a tragedy than a comedy.
(Richard Lee Abrams is a former Los Angeles-based attorney, an author, and political commentator. A long-time contributor to CityWatchLA, he is known for his incisive critiques of City Hall and judicial corruption, as well as his analysis of political and constitutional issues. Abrams blends legal insight with historical and philosophical depth to challenge conventional narratives. A passionate defender of civic integrity and transparency, he aims to expose misuse of power and advocate for systemic reform in local government. You may email him at [email protected])
Note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch Los Angeles, its editors, publishers, or affiliates. CityWatch provides a forum for diverse viewpoints and does not endorse the opinions, claims, or conclusions expressed by individual contributors.
