Hollywood might have its fair share of cliffhangers, but this is one I definitely didn’t have on my 2025 bingo card. Paramount Global has been hit with a surprise $13.5 billion offer from Project Rise Partners, an eleventh-hour bid that’s effectively trying to hijack Skydance Media and RedBird Capital’s $8 billion deal to take over the media giant. Plot = twisted.

(Source: Giphy) 

ICYMI, or missed my whole friggin’ series on the subject a few months back, the Skydance-RedBird deal, backed by Oracle king Larry Ellison (and his son, Skydance CEO David Ellison), has been in the works for quite some time. It’s a classic Silicon Valley-meets-Hollywood power grab, with an $8 billion valuation slapped on Skydance and its ambitions to merge with Paramount. But here comes PRP, rolling in like the drunk wedding guest with a better toast, dropping a $13.5 billion bid for the exact same prize (and $5.5 billion more than Skydance offered LOL). 

The breakdown comes out pretty simple: PRP’s offer is an all-cash deal that values Paramount’s Class B shares at $19 each, compared to Skydance’s $15. That’s a fat 27% premium over the Skydance bid, which PRP is not-so-subtly pointing out is basically highway robbery. Oh, and PRP is also throwing in $2 billion to shore up Paramount’s balance sheet, because why not? In their letter to Paramount’s board, PRP also made sure to emphasize just how much better their deal is. Savage.

(Source: Variety) 

What’s more is that PRP’s pitch isn’t just “we’re richer”; it’s “we’re smarter too”. They’re promising to keep Paramount’s board independent, retain governance committees Skydance wants to scrap, and—get this—give Class B shareholders voting rights for the first time in the company’s history. That’s right, the group that’s been historically treated like the JV squad would suddenly get a real seat at the table. Meanwhile, Skydance’s playbook reportedly involves layoffs, while PRP is out here promising to grow headcount.

Additionally, PRP’s letter also takes a flamethrower to Skydance’s valuation, calling it “unreasonable” and pointing out that the company reported just $25 million in EBITDA last year. For context, Paramount paid $4.75 billion for Skydance, or roughly 200x earnings—a multiple so absurd it makes Nvidia's look downright conservative. PRP isn’t wrong to raise an eyebrow at that math, and it’s not the only red flag they’ve spotted. Tencent, the Chinese tech giant with ties to the military, owns a small stake in Skydance, which has already sparked concerns from lawmakers and regulators. 

(Source: NewsBytes) 

Speaking of regulators, FCC Chair Brendan Carr has already voiced concern over the Skydance deal, and PRP is leaning into that narrative hard. Their letter accuses Paramount’s board of ignoring “serious red flags” in their eagerness to close the Skydance transaction, which they claim is riddled with governance issues and regulatory risks. For good measure, PRP points out that the board excluded a “fiduciary out” clause from the Skydance agreement, meaning they can’t back out of the deal if a better offer comes along. Translation: Paramount’s board basically tied themselves to the train tracks, and PRP is acting as the saving grace they didn’t know they needed.

So with that, what happens next? Paramount and its controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, have a binding deal with Skydance, which could only be derailed by regulators. And while the PRP bid is undeniably more attractive on paper, it’s unclear whether it’s actionable—or if it’s just a late-stage Hail Mary designed to throw a middle finger at the Skydance merger. Either way, Paramount’s board now finds itself in a position no one envies: choosing between a deal that’s already a PR nightmare and a new one that’s guaranteed to spark even more drama (but more money). 

For now, all eyes are on Larry Ellison, who’s juggling the mess his son made while also hyping up his Stargate AI project with Trump. And if that weren’t enough, Elon Musk has already taken to X to troll him, claiming Skydance doesn’t have the money to close the deal. Meaning, this is the perfect recipe for corporate entertainment, and we all have a front row seat to the sh*t show. 

In the meantime, keep an eye on this story to see what decision Shari Redstone makes next. And hopefully, she doesn’t drag this one out as long as she did the Skydance debacle. As always, stay safe and stay frosty, friends! Until next time…

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