Paramount weighs California exodus after state's war on $110B Warner Bros. takeover

https://nypost.com/2026/07/12/business/paramount-weighs-california-exodus-
after-states-war-on-110b-warner-bros-takeover/

California’s escalating battle over Paramount’s proposed $110-billion 
merger with Warner Bros. Discovery could end with another corporate giant 
walking away from the Golden State.

Sources told Semafor advisers close to CEO David Ellison have encouraged 
him to consider moving the company’s HQ and redirecting much of its 
planned $30 billion spending outside the state if Attorney General Rob 
Bonta files a lawsuit to block the deal.

Paramount has already committed to keeping both the Paramount and Warner 
Bros. studio lots operational if the merged company remains in California.

Executives have argued the merger would preserve and create jobs by 
backing roughly $30 billion in annual content spending at a time when film 
and television production have shifted to other states and Canada, 
resulting in thousands of entertainment jobs leaving California.

One adviser described California as an “inhospitable” place for Paramount 
to operate and said a lawsuit challenging the merger could ultimately push 
the company to leave the state.

Despite those discussions, Ellison is not sold on leaving California. He 
moved Paramount’s headquarters from New York to Los Angeles after 
acquiring the company last year and has spent most of his life in the 
state.

If Paramount ultimately relocates, it would join a growing list of major 
companies that have moved their headquarters after disputes with 
California regulators.

Chevron shifted its headquarters from San Ramon, Calif. to Texas two years 
ago, while Oracle and Tesla have also established headquarters in the Lone 
Star State.

The company also has another potential foothold outside California: Last 
year, Paramount signed a lease for nearly 300,000 square feet of studio 
space in Bayonne, N.J.

“We continue to engage constructively with the remaining few regulators 
around the world still considering the merger, including State Attorneys 
General, and are prepared to address any legitimate antitrust issues,” 
Paramount said in a statement.

“We are confident this transaction raises no such concerns, as 
demonstrated by the dozens of antitrust authorities around the world that 
have carefully reviewed the transaction,” the statement continued.


-- 
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump.  We look 
forward to America being great again.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that 
stupid people won't be offended.

Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.

Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama 
/ Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the 
The World According To Garp.  Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood 
queer liberal democrat donors.