Paramount Shareholders Accuse Ellisons of 'Illegal' Trump Deal in 4th Lawsuit

Source: MEDIAite

Jul 15th, 2026, 4:42 pm


David and Larry Ellison were named in a fourth lawsuit filed Tuesday by Paramount shareholders in an attempt to stop an impending merger between the company and Warner Bros. Discovery. The father-son pair was accused of striking a deal with President Donald Trump based on what the lawsuit called an “illegal bribery scheme.”

In a lawsuit filed in Delaware Chancery Court and reviewed by Mediaite, the shareholders claimed the Ellisons also promised widespread changes to CNN to get the merger approved by the president. The deal allegedly also includes a guarantee of up to $20 million in free advertising and an additional $16 million paid to Trump.

The suit claims that the merger going through “would allow Paramount fiduciaries to profit from an illegal bribery scheme in breach of their fiduciary duties of loyalty to Paramount and otherwise in violation of bedrock Delaware corporate law.”

“The media has widely reported that Lawrence and David Ellison promised illegal, private benefits to President Trump in exchange for approval of their last media mega-merger. Specifically, in order to ensure federal regulatory approval of the merger between Ellison-controlled Skydance Media, LLC ( “Skydance” ) and Paramount, the Ellisons promised President Trump up to $20 million in free advertising and reportedly encouraged Paramount’s prior ownership to settle a frivolous lawsuit the President had filed against CBS (owned by Paramount) in his personal capacity—effectively laundering a $16 million payment to President Trump through the courts,” added the filing.

Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/paramount-shareholders-accuse-ellisons-of-illegal-trump-deal-in-4th-lawsuit/