Paramount Skydance Hires Former Trump DOJ Assistant AG Ahead of Possible WBD Bid
September 26, 2025
Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, has named Makan Delrahim as its chief legal officer — a key regulatory hire as the media company considers making an offer for Warner Bros. Discovery.
Delrahim, who provided legal assistance for Skydance when it acquired Paramount Global for $8 billion, will oversee all legal, regulatory, compliance, and public policy matters, including oversight of the government relations team.
The latter could be important as Delrahim was a former assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division under the first Trump Administration.
Paramount Skydance, under CEO David Ellison is reportedly considering a bid as WBD prepares to split into two companies. Warner Bros., under the direction of CEO David Zaslav, will include the studios and direct-to-consumer business, while Discovery Global, under the direction of CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels, will have the TV business.
Upon separation, Discovery Global will have a 25% ownership stake in Warner Bros., in exchange for assuming much of the company’s debt.
Wall Street chatter suggests Ellison’s WBD bid could range from $14.8 billion to $16.2 billion.
Ellison has an ace up his sleeve. His father, Larry Ellison, rivals Elon Musk for richest person in the world with a net worth exceeding $371 billion. The elder Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, is reportedly part of President Trump’s ownership group looking to acquire TikTok.
Michael Pachter, managing director for strategic planning at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, contends that the Ellison family’s deep pockets make a competing bid for WBD irrelevant.
“If Ellison wants it, nobody will outbid him,” Pachter said in an email.
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