Skydance Corp. has named the leadership group intended to run the combined Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery businesses as the merger moves to its formal close. David Ellison will serve as chairman and chief executive officer, while Ynon Kreiz joins as co-chief executive officer.

The structure puts two leaders at the top of a company spanning film studios, television, streaming, news and a games operation previously overseen within Warner Bros. Discovery’s global streaming and games organization. The combined divisions are set to report to Ellison and Kreiz, making the new executive chart an early indication of where authority will sit after one of entertainment’s biggest corporate combinations.

The $111 billion agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery was reached in February 2026. Regulatory clearance was obtained in 68 countries, and the final approval arrived after a judge approved a settlement resolving an antitrust lawsuit brought by 12 states. Skydance’s common stock is scheduled to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange as SKYD on Tuesday, October 6.

Ellison and Kreiz lead the combined company

Ellison’s appointment keeps the founder’s name and leadership at the center of the newly formed company. The Skydance name itself comes from his original independent film production company, but the business now carries a far broader remit following the merger.

Kreiz, formerly Mattel’s chief executive, begins with Skydance as co-CEO. His role is consequential because the company’s major operating areas will answer to both executives rather than being organized around a single chief executive alone.

In the leadership announcement, Ellison described the combined Paramount and Warner Bros. businesses as a creative-first home designed to pair scale, imagination and technology. Kreiz outlined three parallel priorities: becoming a premier content engine for storytellers, advancing an integrated direct-to-consumer platform, and improving the linear television portfolio.

Those priorities describe the basic balancing act facing the company. Direct-to-consumer, often shortened to DTC, means entertainment delivered straight to viewers through streaming services rather than solely through traditional cable or broadcast distributors. Linear TV refers to scheduled television networks, where programming follows a channel timetable. Both are included in the plan, alongside theatrical movie operations and major news brands.

It is a particularly demanding agenda because the new company is expected to have more than $80 billion in net debt. Net debt generally means a company’s debt after accounting for cash and similar available funds. That figure does not, by itself, dictate particular programming or staffing decisions, but it underscores the financial pressure alongside the creative and operational goals announced by management.

Film leadership shifts to Goldberg and Greenstein

Skydance Motion Picture Group will be co-chaired by Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, who previously served as co-chairs of Paramount Pictures. Their appointments place the film operation under executives already associated with the Paramount side of the transaction.

Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca, the heads of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group before the merger, are not joining the new company. The announcement does not outline how the two studio identities will be organized in public-facing terms, nor does it provide a slate-by-slate production strategy. What it does establish is that Goldberg and Greenstein will be the senior leadership pair for the combined motion-picture group.

For audiences, this is executive infrastructure rather than a release-calendar update. No new films, release dates or production plans were announced as part of the leadership appointments. Still, the choice of film chiefs matters because the motion-picture group will be responsible for coordinating a major part of the merged company’s creative output.

DC Studios leadership remains in place

One of the clearest continuity decisions concerns DC Studios. James Gunn and Peter Safran will remain co-chairmen of the unit.

That means the new parent company is retaining the existing senior leadership at the DC label while changing the corporate structure around it. The announcement does not add creative details for DC projects, alter its release plans or identify game-related DC initiatives. It simply confirms that Gunn and Safran continue in their current top roles.

The distinction is useful amid a merger of this size: a new corporate owner and executive hierarchy do not automatically mean that every individual creative division is being remade. In DC Studios’ case, the named leadership is staying put.

Streaming and TV responsibilities are split between content and business roles

Casey Bloys becomes co-chair and chief content officer of Skydance DTC. Bloys had led HBO and HBO Max, and his new title places him on the content side of the company’s streaming operation.

George Cheeks becomes co-chair and chief content officer of Skydance TV after previously serving as chair of TV media at Paramount Skydance. The pairing of Bloys and Cheeks gives the company separate senior content leaders for its DTC streaming and television businesses.

JB Perrette receives a cross-division assignment as co-chair and chief business officer of both Skydance TV and Skydance DTC. Perrette previously served as Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO and president of global streaming and games.

A chief content officer is generally focused on programming, creative direction and the pipeline of material intended for viewers. A chief business officer’s remit typically concerns commercial and operational decisions. The announcement assigns Perrette business leadership titles across both TV and streaming, while putting content leadership for those areas with Cheeks and Bloys respectively.

That setup may matter for game-industry watchers because Perrette’s previous portfolio explicitly included games. However, the executive list does not name a separate Skydance games chief, detail a future games strategy, or announce any changes to existing game development, publishing or franchises. The supportable takeaway is narrower: the new structure puts a former streaming-and-games executive into a business role spanning Skydance TV and DTC.

For a broader look at the continued CNN leadership during the ownership transition, see Mark Thompson’s plan to remain at CNN.

CNN and CBS News appointments

Mark Thompson will continue to run CNN, taking the title of chairman and editor-in-chief of CNN Worldwide. The appointment confirms that CNN’s top executive remains in place within the new corporate structure.

Bari Weiss is listed as editor-in-chief of CBS News. Together, these appointments form the announced news executive leadership team. They sit alongside the entertainment appointments but carry titles specific to their respective news organizations.

The wider corporate leadership team also includes Andy Gordon as president; Dennis Cinelli as chief financial officer; Makan Delrahim as chief legal officer and president of global corporate affairs; Dane Glasgow as chief product officer; Rebecca Mall as chief marketing officer; and Melissa Zukerman as chief communications officer.

Skydance Corp. leadership roster

Enterprise leadership

  • David Ellison: Chairman and CEO
  • Ynon Kreiz: Co-CEO

Corporate leadership

  • Andy Gordon: President
  • Dennis Cinelli: Chief financial officer
  • Makan Delrahim: Chief legal officer and president, global corporate affairs
  • Dane Glasgow: Chief product officer
  • Rebecca Mall: Chief marketing officer
  • Melissa Zukerman: Chief communications officer

Business leadership

  • Casey Bloys: Co-chair and chief content officer, Skydance DTC
  • George Cheeks: Co-chair and chief content officer, Skydance TV
  • Dana Goldberg: Co-chair, Skydance Motion Picture Group
  • Josh Greenstein: Co-chair, Skydance Motion Picture Group
  • James Gunn: Co-chairman, DC Studios
  • Peter Safran: Co-chairman, DC Studios
  • JB Perrette: Co-chair and chief business officer, Skydance TV; co-chair and chief business officer, Skydance DTC

News leadership

  • Mark Thompson: Chairman and editor-in-chief, CNN Worldwide
  • Bari Weiss: Editor-in-chief, CBS News

What has been decided—and what has not

The announcement answers several immediate questions about leadership succession. Goldberg and Greenstein lead the film group; Bloys and Cheeks take the content posts for DTC and TV; Perrette holds business duties across those two areas; Gunn and Safran remain atop DC Studios; and Thompson remains at CNN.

It does not provide a detailed operational blueprint for every brand, streaming service, network or game team that sits within the enlarged company. Nor does it announce consumer changes, project cancellations, new game releases, new subscription packages or new programming lineups. Those issues should not be inferred from executive titles alone.

What is certain is that Skydance Corp. begins trading under a new ticker with a leadership group built around both retained executives and executives drawn from the two merging organizations. Its next challenge is converting that organizational chart into an operating business while managing a portfolio that reaches theatrical films, DC, television, streaming and news—and doing so under a substantial debt load.