Paramount shareholder sues Ellisons over alleged Trump deal

A Paramount shareholder has filed a lawsuit alleging that controlling shareholders David Ellison and his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, struck an illegal, undisclosed agreement with President Donald Trump to secure federal approval for the company’s proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The complaint, filed on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in Delaware Chancery Court, seeks to block the merger and obtain unspecified monetary damages.

The lawsuit, brought by shareholder Paul Robbins, claims the Ellisons promised personal benefits to President Trump to remove regulatory barriers. These alleged promises included settling Trump’s legal claims against CNN, which he had sued, and firing CNN anchors he disliked following the takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns the network. The complaint asserts these actions breached the Ellisons' fiduciary duties to shareholders and exposed Paramount to significant legal and financial risk.

This shareholder action is the third major lawsuit filed this week against the proposed media merger. On Monday, July 13, a coalition of 12 state attorneys general led by California’s Rob Bonta filed a federal antitrust lawsuit...