“Here’s the problem: Paramount has just $3 billion in cash on its balance sheet.
To bridge the gap, three big banks are committing $57.5 billion in debt. Most of the rest—a $45.7 billion equity commitment—is coming from Larry Ellison’s trust. And that’s where the math starts to get tight. Ellison has only sold $4.7 billion of Oracle stock (pre-tax) this century. By Forbes estimates, he has less than $10 billion of cash in the bank, mostly from Oracle dividends. He also owns an estimated $15 billion in Tesla shares amassed during his tenure as a Tesla director, which ended in 2022. Even if he liquidated all of that, it wouldn’t fully cover his commitment.”
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“Here’s the problem: Paramount has just $3 billion in cash on its balance sheet.
To bridge the gap, three big banks are committing $57.5 billion in debt. Most of the rest—a $45.7 billion equity commitment—is coming from Larry Ellison’s trust. And that’s where the math starts to get tight. Ellison has only sold $4.7 billion of Oracle stock (pre-tax) this century. By Forbes estimates, he has less than $10 billion of cash in the bank, mostly from Oracle dividends. He also owns an estimated $15 billion in Tesla shares amassed during his tenure as a Tesla director, which ended in 2022. Even if he liquidated all of that, it wouldn’t fully cover his commitment.”