Leaked Report Details Fallout if Paramount Follows Through on California Exit Threat
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Nearly 58,000 jobs and $21 billion in annual losses are on the line as the Oct. 1 merger deadline approaches.
As the legal battle over the $110 billion Paramount Skydance–Warner Bros. Discovery merger drags on, a coalition of state attorneys general is fighting to block the sale on antitrust grounds — and the buyer is threatening to leave California if the lawsuit succeeds. A leaked report now puts a number on the fallout: As many as 58,000 lost jobs and up to $21 billion a year in losses for California.
The report — from the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation’s Institute for Applied Economics, commissioned by Paramount itself — was leaked Saturday by Politico and lays out grim numbers for the motion picture industry. Leadership at Paramount-Skydance is negotiating with the gaggle of AGs, led by California’s Rob Bonta, and racing against an Oct. 1 deadline: If the merger hasn’t closed by then, the deal’s “ticking fee” kicks in, paying Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders $7 million a day. Paramount’s threat to relocate the studio to Georgia, Tennessee or Texas has been one of its central negotiating tactics — and has drawn uproar across the industry.
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Blocking the merger is one of the worst and most foolish moves.
There are giants already that Paramount wants to compete with. Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Disney, etc. All those have businesses outside TV/Movies/streaming to support losses while they grow. Netflix is the behemoth that everyone is taking on.
Keep partisan politics out of this.
