Paramount Skydance, under the leadership of David Ellison, has successfully secured financial commitments totaling nearly $24 billion to support its proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). This substantial backing comes from three prominent Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. This agreement was initially reported by the Wall Street Journal and later confirmed by Variety, marking a significant step in the complex acquisition process.

Specifically, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has pledged approximately $10 billion, with the remaining portion of the $24 billion provided by the state-controlled funds of Qatar and Abu Dhabi. While Chinese gaming and internet company Tencent was initially a financing partner with a $1 billion commitment, it was temporarily withdrawn due to concerns from the WBD board regarding foreign ownership. However, Bloomberg News later reported that Tencent was back on board as an investor with fresh funding. Adding to the financial architecture, David Ellison's father, Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, has committed up to $46.7 billion towards the winning bid for WBD, with the participation of the Middle Eastern funds reducing the total equity Larry Ellison will need to contribute.

The proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which holds an enterprise value of $111 billion, is currently pending various regulatory approvals. WBD's board of directors accepted Paramount's bid in February, following Netflix's decision not to counter Paramount's $31 per share offer. The companies anticipate the deal to be finalized by the end of the third quarter of 2026. A special shareholders meeting for WBD has been scheduled for April 23 to vote on the Paramount Skydance transaction.

The deal faces scrutiny from U.S. regulatory bodies. Omeed Assefi, the acting head of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust division, has indicated that the Paramount-WBD deal will "absolutely not" be fast-tracked for approval, citing political reasons related to the Ellison family’s ties to former President Trump. Furthermore, an SEC filing from December 1 indicated the aggregate $24 billion from the Middle Eastern funds; however, the precise contribution from each fund toward the winning bid accepted in February has not been disclosed since.

Concerns surrounding foreign ownership and potential national security risks have also emerged. Paramount Skydance previously stated in SEC filings that the three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds have agreed to forgo any governance rights, including board representation, associated with their non-voting equity investments. Paramount asserts that this arrangement places the deal outside the jurisdiction of the U.S.'s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews foreign investments for national security implications. Despite this, seven Democratic U.S. senators recently urged the FCC to conduct a "thorough review" of the foreign investors backing the deal. Paramount executives, however, do not expect an FCC review, as each Middle Eastern fund will own "far less" than 25% of the combined company. Separately, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal criticized the previous Trump administration’s Treasury Department for failing to initiate a CFIUS national security review of the Paramount Skydance WBD deal.