Elon Musk Could Become Investor in Paramount Amid Warner Bros Merger: Report

Screenshot via The Joe Rogan Experience

Paramount executives have looked at tapping billionaire Elon Musk as an equity investor as they prepare for a megamerger with Warner Bros. Discovery, according to a new report.

Semafor’s Rohan Goswami reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter, that X owner Musk could become part of a “syndicate of equity investors into Paramount.”

Paramount reportedly settled a lawsuit with multiple attorneys general this week, which had been holding up the $110 billion merger.

According to Goswami, Paramount CEO David Ellison has considered tapping Musk for investment, but he’d be one of many wealthy individuals who would become part of this syndicate. It’s not known how much Musk or others’ investments would be.

Musk has a prior relationship with David Ellison’s father, Larry Ellison, who invested $1 billion into Musk’s takeover of X. He also served on the board for Tesla, Musk’s electric car company.

Larry Ellison’s status as a close ally of President Donald Trump has sparked concern among critics, as Paramount merging with Warner Bros. would see the Ellisons taking control of CNN, one of Trump’s least-favorite news organizations. CNN, along with MS NOW and Politico, is currently suing the administration over a White House ban from the president.

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) pushed back on Wednesday as he responded to claims that he pressured Attorney General Rob Bonta into settling a case with Paramount.

“I made the point. I’ve made it very publicly and consistently and been reported maybe two or three hundred different ways that we, me, many folks, including the mayor, soon-to-be Governor-elect [Xavier] Becerra and others, preferred in the words of Rob Bonta himself, that he focus on getting this done at the boardroom, not the courtroom,” the governor said.

The Paramount merger would be the second major takeover by David Ellison, the first being the merger of Skydance with Paramount last year in an $8 billion deal.

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