Gulf Funds Agree to Back Paramount's $81 Billion Takeover of Warner

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

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Gulf Funds Agree to Back Paramount's $81 Billion Takeover of Warner

Commitments from Middle East entities will help offset costs for Ellison family

By Jessica Toonkel and Lauren Thomas
Updated April 6, 2026 6:12 am ET


Paramount defeated Netflix to acquire Warner. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Paramount has received signed equity commitments of close to $24 billion from three sovereign-wealth funds led by Saudi Arabia to help back its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to people familiar with the matter.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has agreed to provide roughly $10 billion of the nearly $24 billion to Paramount, run by David Ellison, the son of billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.

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Read more: https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/three-gulf-funds-agree-to-back-paramounts-81-billion-takeover-of-warner-04eda364

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https://www.wsj.com/news/author/jessica-toonkel
https://www.wsj.com/news/author/lauren-thomas

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"He may be the ruler of Saudi Arabia, but he knows how to have fun too. We guarantee he'll slay you! A look at the lighter side of Mohammed bin Salman, tonight on '60 Minutes'."

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The Wall Street Journal
‪@wsj.com‬

Exclusive: Paramount has received signed equity commitments of close to $24 billion from three sovereign-wealth funds led by Saudi Arabia to help back its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Gulf Funds Agree to Back Paramount's $81 Billion Takeover of Warner
Commitments from three Middle East entities will help offset costs for the Ellison family.
on.wsj.com
6:34 AM · Apr 6, 2026
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Exclusive: Paramount has received signed equity commitments of close to billion from three sovereign-wealth funds led by Saudi Arabia to help back its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.

— The Wall Street Journal (@wsj.com) 2026-04-06T10:34:47.132555Z

[cachukis]

1. Of course.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

12. Smells like some kind of money laundering scheme(s) I have read about....

... in the past it was Russians and Florida real estate, oh, and anchor babies.

[cachukis]

14. My sense it is from MBS' desire to transform the

Saudi economy from oil as a commodity.
Kushner and the Abraham Accords was all about getting Saudi money into the west. Trump bought in and the Saudi money machine is on full blast to persuade Trump to destroy the Shia antithesis to the westernization of the Sunni ignoring the Quran rules on usury.
Not enough understand the dichotomy to the Shia Sunni rivalry.
The Shia believe their Muhammed genetics force them to obey the Quran more strictly.
Their defense of it gets them to heaven.

[moonscape]

19. It's not accurate that

Shia believe genetics force greater obedience to the Quran or guarantee heaven. Like Sunnis, they believe people are judged by other things, not lineage.

[cachukis]

21. Did not mean to imply that it is a genetic force, but

a bloodline.
The Shia consider themselves as descendents.

[moonscape]

24. That's still not

accurate. Not sure your source on this.

Shia Islam doesn’t teach that Shia as a whole are descendants of Muhammad. It emphasizes respect for his family, but lineage isn’t the general Shia population and doesn’t determine salvation.

[cachukis]

25. You're right. I'm digging a hole. I was taught that

the Shia leadership were descended from a grandson of Muhammed. That the Shia respected the authenticity of the Quran and adherence to the guidance was tantamount.
That all Shia were descendents is impossible.
Nonetheless, the Ayatollahs, imam, mullahs et al, are more orthodox in respect to the Quran and their followers were expected to stay the course.
Forgive my inaccuracies.

[moonscape]

28. You're right about the

leadership lineage, but saying Shia followers are “expected to stay the course” unintentionally suggests Shia are more rigid or extreme which isn’t true. Both Sunni and Shia emphasize following the Quran and in practice, both have diversity in how people practice it.

[cachukis]

29. Wow. You are certainly exposing my shortcomings.

Perhaps you can explain to me why then, the Shia and Sunni have been at such odds over the last thousand years. Of course neither are a monolith, but the Shia, Iran, are very opposed to Israelis moving into Israel, while the Sunni, Saudi Arabia et al, are anxious to do business with Israel with the Abraham Accords.

[moonscape]

30. It's less about religion

than it is history, power, and politics. The Sunni/Shia split originated over leadership, but long-term conflict has been driven by political/regional power struggles. Iran vs Saudi Arabia, or views on Israel, are political decisions, not just religious differences.

[cachukis]

31. So many questions, but too deep into the weeds.

Thanks.

[Alice B.]

2. Aside from "great. Just great..."

I also misread this as GoFund Me.

[Javaman]

3. I hope at some time in the future, this deal gets shitcanned under anti-trust laws. nt

[dlk]

4. Let the right-wing propaganda begin...

n/r

[LymphocyteLover]

5. Freaking disgusting-- billionaires are destroying our democracy, it's clear as day

[lonely bird]

6. Hell, destroying the world

Greedy bastards.

[LymphocyteLover]

7. Yes-- that too

Maybe there will be springtime for guillotines for these motherfuckers

[Orrex]

13. But if we feed them into a woodchipper, suddenly **we're** the bad guys.

[LymphocyteLover]

16. LMAO... funny how that's works

[orangecrush]

8. Of course

[LSparkle]

9. Jared Goes To Hollywood

They want the entertainment industry too.

Fuck em ... SAG-AFTRA will push back and I hope hard. Hollywood is a company town and talent doesn’t take kindly to being dictated to.

[AverageOldGuy]

10. Does this mean the Saudis will own a major segment of our public media?

[Icanthinkformyself]

11. Interesting way

to put it, "he will slay you". And, just how will he do it. By having us chopped into pieces?

[AverageOldGuy]

15. Bone saw

Must more precise and clean than chopping.

[Multichromatic]

17. Is Trump just going to let the Saudis buy up everything in the US?

This shouldn't be allowed. Saudi Arabia also bought up shares in Activision Blizzard, EA, and Take-Two Interactive. Not to mention the whole LIV golf thing. They also bought up farm land and water rights in California and Arizona to grow alfalfa.

Let's just sell all of the US to Saudi Arabia so Trump can get his bribe err... commission.

[bmichaelh]

18. Casablanca

WB would never had made Casablanca with that kind of leadership.

[Mblaze]

20. No matter what countries we attack on false pretenses

I will never forget that it was Saudis who flew those planes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

[sakabatou]

23. Same.

[Ford_Prefect]

22. Last I knew it was illegal for a foreign entity to own an American broadcasting company.

I know this is the FCC and SEC according to DJT, but the language of that law hasn't been changed.

As a principal investor this would apply to the investment fund in plain language. It has been tried before to use foreign shell companies and it was shot down.

[BeyondGeography]

26. CNN hearts MBS

And all present and future House of Saud spawns as required. Who wants to live in that world?

[Buddyzbuddy]

27. Don't the Saudi's also own a large portion of FOX, or did they divest?

[some_of_us_are_sane]

32. Take a lesson from "DUNE"...

(assuming visual entertainment is "spice" )

"HE WHO CONTROLS THE SPICE, CONTROLS THE UNIVERSE."

[mdbl]

33. They should be forced to divest CBS immediately

We don't need the Saudi's controlling publicly accessed media.