Tennessee Courts Paramount Headquarters as California Sues to Block $111 Billion WBD Deal
Updated
Updated · Hollywood Reporter · Jul 14
Tennessee Courts Paramount Headquarters as California Sues to Block $111 Billion WBD Deal
3 articles · Updated · Hollywood Reporter · Jul 14
Summary
A July 2 letter from Tennessee Deputy Governor Stuart McWhorter urged David Ellison to move Paramount’s corporate headquarters to the state as California prepared its challenge to the Warner Bros. Discovery takeover.
The outreach landed as a 12-state attorneys general coalition led by California sued Monday to stop the $111 billion deal, after Paramount’s offer to make 30 films a year with a 45-day theatrical window failed to avert the filing.
Paramount confirmed the letter’s authenticity, and a longtime Ellison adviser said “everything is on the table,” even though the company only moved its headquarters from New York last year.
Any relocation could deepen pressure on California production, with Los Angeles filming already near historic lows and Paramount controlling about $30 billion in spending that could shift to Tennessee, New York, New Jersey, the U.K. or Canada.
Tennessee’s pitch is strengthened by Ellison’s personal ties to the state, Oracle’s planned Nashville campus and co-CEO Clay Magouyrk’s residence there, while a move would also return Warner Bros. Discovery operations to a former base in Tennessee.