Paramount Skydance Settles State Antitrust Suit After Ellison's California Exit Threat

Paramount Skydance settled with state attorneys general ahead of its Sept. 30 fee deadline, a resolution driven by CEO David Ellison's threat to move the company out of California. The settlement avoids a ticking penalty owed to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders for each day the merger closed past Oct. 1. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who led the suit, lost political support after Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and others urged a deal. Newsom helped broker talks, a source said. Several state AGs held out over the weekend but lacked the resources to litigate without California's backing. The settlement creates an editorial oversight board for CBS and CNN and includes behavioral remedies to return production jobs to the U.S. Connecticut AG William Tong said he was "deeply disappointed" the deal lacked full CNN and CBS News divestiture. Former FTC Chair Lina Khan warned behavioral remedies "routinely fail."