Larry Ellison , the megabillionaire founder of Oracle, will be the majority shareholder of National Amusements Inc. , the company that controls Paramount Global , after the expected closing of the deal with Skydance Media — led by his son, David Ellison — next year, according to a regulatory filing.

Larry Ellison will own 77.5% of National Amusements through Pinnacle Media, a group of three ventures formed “as special-purpose vehicles to hold the Ellison family’s interest in NAI and Paramount,” according to an FCC filing, available at this link . The remaining 22.5% of NAI will be owned by Gerry Cardinale, head of private-equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, which teamed with Skydance and the Ellisons on the NAI/Paramount deal.

The FCC filing disclosing the ownership stakes of NAI was necessary because the transaction involves the transfer of CBS's 28 owned-and-operated local TV stations. The FCC must approve the transfer of control of television broadcast licenses.

On July 7, after months of negotiations, Skydance and RedBird, along with NAI and Paramount Global, reached a binding agreement. This agreement will see the Skydance group acquire the shares of Shari Redstone's NAI (which holds 77% of the voting power in Paramount Global) and subsequently merge with Paramount.

Last month, an investor group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. made a last-minute bid to acquire Paramount, just days before the “go-shop” period under the Skydance agreement expired on Aug. 21 (causing the Paramount board's special committee to extend the negotiation period by 15 days). However, last week, Bronfman announced that the bidding group was withdrawing from the deal, paving the way for the Skydance-RedBird agreement to proceed.

Paramount Global's assets include CBS, Paramount Pictures, cable networks such as Comedy Central, MTV and BET, and streaming services Paramount+ and Pluto TV. The media conglomerate anticipates the Skydance deal to close in the first half of 2025. David Ellison is slated to become CEO of the combined Skydance-Paramount entity, while Jeff Shell, former CEO of NBCUniversal and chairman of RedBird Sports & Media, will assume the role of president.

In anticipation of the upcoming Skydance deal closure, Paramount is implementing significant layoffs due to declining revenue in its television and film operations. Last month, the company announced it will reduce its U.S. workforce by 15% — eliminating approximately 2,000 positions — by the end of 2024. This cost-cutting measure aims to reduce annual expenses by $500 million.