Paramount needs money. Buying Warner Bros. Discovery was expensive, and now the company is looking for new investors. One name that has come up? Elon Musk.
According to a Semafor report, Paramount executives have talked about bringing Musk into a group of wealthy investors. He's being seriously considered by David Ellison. Nobody knows how much Musk might put in. Paramount had no comment, and Musk didn't respond.
This isn't random. Musk and Larry Ellison, David's dad, are old friends. Larry put $1 billion into Musk's Twitter buyout in 2022. He also invested in Tesla and sat on its board for years. Now Musk could return the favor.
Larry needs the help. He personally guaranteed more than $40 billion to get the Warner Bros. deal done. That's a lot of money for just one man. Bringing in other billionaires would ease the pressure. And think about what Musk would be buying into: Paramount, Warner Bros., DC, HBO, CBS and CNN. This is a guy who loves trashing Hollywood and the media. Now he could own a piece of both.
Amazing. What a coincidence! Just 48 hours after David Ellison settled with the state AGs, this story leaks. Not a week before, when it might have complicated the negotiations. Pure luck, I'm sure.
Now, I gather Musk probably wouldn't have any say in how the company is run. He won't be picking the next Batman. But his name alone would send a message to investors, and his fans follow his every move. Honestly, who knows what’s going on here since Semafor’s reporting couldn’t conjure up enough details. How many billions would Musk actually be putting into the company? The actual number would give us a better indication of how much power Musk could leverage in the company's decision-making.
NOTE: Alex Gibney's “Musk,” a documentary Elon has threatened to sue over, is contractually set to premiere on HBO and HBO Max. If Musk has a stake in WarnerMount, you can bet that doc will be buried.
The real problem, of course, is politics. Democrats were already worried about Musk's power during the 2024 election because he owns X. Him owning even a small piece of CNN and CBS would make a lot of people in Washington very nervous.
Garland's script is written. Boyle called it "fantastic" in that same interview, Murphy says he's ready, and Boyle wants to direct. All that's missing is the money.