What Is David Ellison’s Breaking Point?

Paramount CEO David Ellison is bracing for a prolonged and costly legal battle to keep his $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery alive, after 12 state attorneys general filed an antitrust suit to block the deal. Executives at both companies had hoped for a swift closure by mid-2026, but a judge has now set a trial start date of March 2027, leaving staff at both firms in limbo and raising questions about how much financial pain Ellison and his father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, are prepared to absorb.

The delay is expensive: Paramount faces a $7 million-a-day ticking fee from October, plus a $7 billion payout to Warner Bros. shareholders if the deal collapses, on top of the $2.8 billion it already paid Netflix to step aside. By the scheduled trial's end, Paramount could owe roughly $1.3 billion in accrued fees. Larry Ellison has personally guaranteed $46.7 billion towards the deal, though his net worth has fallen from over $300 billion to about $181 billion since June amid concerns over Oracle's AI spending. David Ellison says he remains confident of victory at trial but is open to a settlement, while analysts debate at what point the mounting costs might force the Ellisons to abandon the pursuit.