Why Hollywood cares about this year's Oscars, but not about Gulf money buying Warner: A chat with insider Matt Belloni

Tech Insider : Politics, Business, Sports
Adrien Brody accepts the Best Actor In A Leading Role award for
Adrien Brody won the Best Actor in award at the 2025 Oscars. Depending on who you ask, this year's favorite is either Michael B. Jordan or Timothée Chalamet.

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David Ellison won Warner Bros. Now he has to prove Paramount can beat Netflix at its own game.

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David Ellison photo collage featuring Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros logos
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison's ambitions go beyond buying Warner Bros. Discovery.

NurPhoto/Getty; PATRICK T. FALLON/Getty; Tyler Le/BI

A key Paramount ally makes the case for using Middle East money to buy Warner Bros.: 'The world is changing.'

Tech Insider : Politics, Business
Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia (middle) sits next to Elon Musk (right) and U.S. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent (left) at a U.S.-Saudi business conference in Washington, DC., November 2025.
In the second Trump administration, American businesses and government officials have been eager to do deals in the Middle East. Paramount's deal to acquire Warner Bros.

We answered 11 big questions about the Paramount-WBD deal and what happens next

Tech Insider : Business
Ellison WBD Zaz
Aspiring media mogul David Ellison's Paramount Skydance plans to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, which is led by David Zaslav.

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Paramount just told employees what their year-end bonuses are — and changed how they are calculated

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David and Larry Ellison
David and Larry Ellison are charging ahead in their bid to buy Warner Bros Discovery.

Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for The Hollywood Reporter

Paramount won't say whether Middle East money is funding its WBD deal

Tech Insider : Politics, Business
Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman, at a US-Saudi event in Washington, DC; November 2025.
Saudi Arabian ruler Mohammed bin Salman at a US-Saudi investment event in Washington DC, in November 2025. In December, Paramount said a Saudi-controlled fund would pitch in $10 billion towards its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

David Ellison's Paramount is shaking up a key engineering group as it looks to catch up to Netflix's tech

Tech Insider : Business
P+ Ellison Netflix
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is on a mission to help his streamer catch up with Netflix.

Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect; Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images; Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto

Netflix says it bailed on WBD because of money, not Donald Trump

Tech Insider : Politics, Business
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos arrives for meetings at the White House on February 26, 2026 in Washington, DC., shortly before announcing that Netflix was no longer going to try to buy much of Warner Bros. Discovery
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos visited the White House on Thursday, and shortly after announced his company was no longer going to try to buy much of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Leaked audio: Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav tells employees Paramount deal felt 'whiplash-y'

Tech Insider : Business
Zaz Para
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav just pitched staffers on the Paramount-Skydance deal.

Leon Bennett/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images; Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

It's easy to understand why Netflix walked away from WBD

Tech Insider : Business
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos departs the White House on February 26, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos visited the White House Thursday afternoon to discuss his company's Warner Bros. bid. Hours later, Netflix walked away from the deal.

Andrew Leyden/Getty Images

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