• by Wayne Friedman , Yesterday

In a potential mega-media merger deal, Paramount Skydance is reportedly working on an all-cash offer to acquire all of Warner Bros. Discovery.

The stock price of WBD rocketed up 26% to $15.79 in midday Thursday trading, while Paramount Skydance shares were up 11.5% to $16.85.

The deal would be financially backed by the family of David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Larry Ellison, the father of David Ellison and the co-founder and chairman of Oracle Corp., briefly ascended to become the world’s richest person earlier this week, according to analysts -- topping Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla. Larry Ellison’s stock market value is around $383 billion, according to estimates.

The Paramount-WBD deal would combine all entertainment assets under one roof -- movie and TV studios, and cable TV network groups of both companies.

This comes as WBD has been preparing to spin off into two companies -- cable TV networks (Discovery Global) and movie/TV studios, streaming platform, HBO Max and other businesses (Warner Bros.).

Skydance recently closed a deal to acquire Paramount Global for $8 billion.

Mega media deals such as this one are usually under intense scrutiny from federal regulators, according to analysts, but the Trump Administration seems to be moving toward a more deregulated business environment, which analysts say would free up major mergers and acquisitions activity.

A rise in cord-cutting for legacy media companies that own declining linear TV networks -- in terms of revenue and viewership -- has been predicted by analysts, subject to consolidation, spinoffs, and other deal-making.

A representative of Warner Bros. Discovery had no comment in response to an inquiry by Television News Daily.