Oil Tycoons Pour Billions Into Hollywood but Refuse the Director's Chair
KEY POINTS
- •Larry and David Ellison are making a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery with billions from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi.
- •The foreign investors won’t have any governance rights, allowing Paramount to circumvent U.S. regulatory scrutiny from Committee on Foreign Investment.
- •Paramount’s bid competes with Netflix, whose co-CEO Ted Sarandos also courted Trump with a recent Oval Office visit.
In a media mashup worthy of a sequel nobody asked for, Larry and David Ellison—the father-son duo behind Paramount—are hostilely bidding for Warner Bros. Discovery with an entourage of three oil-rich petrostates: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. Together, they eyed a mind-melting $24 billion investment, double the Ellisons' own $11.8 billion pile, with the mysterious terms Bermuda Triangle-ing all governance rights. This bizarre partnership insists the petrostates get zero say in running the mega studio. A cameo by Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners adds yet another Gulf-backed player, while Donald Trump’s Oval Office fan club grows to include both Ellisons and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos. All this add-up may dodge committee eyes, but raises more questions on what exactly money-with-no-strings-attached truly means in modern media oligarchies.
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Nothing says "Hollywood takeover" like billions from oil sheiks politely refusing to hold the boardroom door handle. Just a casual democracy where transparency was last seen at a mint julep convention.
When you need the world’s richest and three secretive petrostates to buy a studio, maybe just start your own streaming service?
Saudi Arabia says 'give us billions, but calm, no decisions, we watch Netflix instead.' Real diplomacy in action.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 12/8/2025 | Author: Peter Kafka
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