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Saturday, October 10, 2026Oct 10, 2026 · morning edition

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Ellison family closes $110B Warner Bros. Discovery deal

Paramount Skydance completed its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Oct. 6, backed by $47 billion in new equity led by the Ellison family, creating a new company called Skydance.

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Larry EllisonAcquisitionMediaSKYDAI read · ▲ Consolidation

Paramount Skydance closes Warner Bros. Discovery takeover

The move

Paramount Skydance completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Oct. 6, forming a new company called Skydance that combines Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., CBS, CNN, HBO, Paramount+ and HBO Max. The deal was financed with about $47 billion in new equity led by the Ellison family, alongside RedBird Capital and sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. David Ellison becomes chairman and CEO, with former Mattel chief Ynon Kreiz as co-CEO. The combined company must also pay down roughly $82 billion in debt.

Why it matters

It closes one of the largest media mergers ever, days after Paramount settled antitrust lawsuits from a coalition of states by agreeing to an editorial-independence board for CNN and an extra $1.5 billion in movie spending over five years.

The bear case

Skydance is targeting more than $6 billion in cost cuts within three years, which raises the risk of layoffs across the combined company, and press reports still disagree on the deal's total value.

What to watch

How quickly Skydance moves to merge Paramount+ and HBO Max into one streaming service.

Source · The Philadelphia InquirerRead original ↗Report an error
Jensen HuangInvestmentAI & techNVDAAI read · — Soft power

Nvidia pledges $1B to US science and quantum push

The move

Nvidia said on Oct. 8 it will commit $1 billion over five years to support US research in quantum computing, healthcare and energy security, including funding for universities and for cloud providers serving government science needs. The announcement came at a Washington event tied to the White House's "Genesis Mission" science initiative. Nvidia said it would keep working with Department of Energy national labs, including a new supercomputer project at Argonne.

Why it matters

It ties Nvidia's chips directly to a government-backed science push and deepens the company's relationship with Washington while AI export and chip policy are still being decided.

The bear case

A five-year, $1 billion pledge is small next to Nvidia's market value, and the announcement also keeps Nvidia close to the Trump administration as it lobbies on chip export rules.

What to watch

How much of the $1 billion reaches independent researchers versus Nvidia's own hardware sales.

Source · NVIDIA NewsroomRead original ↗Report an error
Jeff BezosInvestmentAerospacePrivateAI read · ▲ War chest

Blue Origin's first outside funding round tops $10B

The move

Blue Origin is raising about $10 billion from outside investors for the first time. CEO Dave Limp said in a Sept. 30 update that the round was "oversubscribed" but not yet closed. Earlier reports put the valuation at $130 billion; the Wall Street Journal later reported terms near $140 billion, which Limp did not confirm. Bezos is contributing $2 billion of the round himself, on top of the roughly $30 billion he has put into the company since founding it in 2000, largely funded by selling Amazon stock.

Why it matters

It's Blue Origin's first capital raise from outside investors after 25 years of being bankrolled almost entirely by its founder, as the company ramps up its New Glenn rocket and lunar lander programs against SpaceX.

The bear case

The final size and valuation haven't been confirmed by the company, and outside money brings outside expectations to a company Bezos has run largely as a personal project.

What to watch

Official confirmation of the round's size and valuation once it closes.

Source · CNBCRead original ↗Report an error
Aliko DangoteIPO / MarketsEnergyPrivateAI read · ▲ Retail test

Dangote refinery's $1.6B IPO enters its final days

The move

The IPO for Aliko Dangote's Nigerian oil refinery closes Oct. 13. The offer covers 4.1 billion shares at 525 naira (about 40 cents) each, aiming to raise up to 2.15 trillion naira (roughly $1.6 billion), with a minimum purchase of 10 shares aimed at retail investors. Nigeria's exchange expects to confirm share allotments around Nov. 11.

Why it matters

It's a test of local retail demand for Africa's largest private company, coming as Dangote also seeks $14.3 billion to double the refinery's capacity to 1.4 million barrels a day.

The bear case

The naira has been volatile, and the refinery's profitability swung from a loss in 2025 to a large profit in early 2026, so recent results may not repeat.

What to watch

Allotment results around Nov. 11 and whether shares list above the offer price in late November.

Source · NairametricsRead original ↗Report an error
Ma HuatengInvestmentAI & tech700 HKAI read · ▲ Debt-funded AI

Tencent weighs $5B bond sale to fund AI buildout

The move

Tencent is considering an offshore bond sale of up to $5 billion, denominated in US dollars and offshore yuan, to help fund its AI and computing expansion, Bloomberg reported Oct. 8. It would follow a $4.66 billion bond sale in June, the company's largest debt deal since 2020. Tencent's AI and computing capital spending rose 176% to 52.8 billion yuan (about $7.9 billion) in the June quarter.

Why it matters

It shows Tencent turning to debt, not just cash flow, to keep pace with AI infrastructure spending, the same week it emerged as a top backer of AI lab DeepSeek's new funding round.

The bear case

Neither the size nor the timing of the bond sale is finalized, and Tencent hasn't said how the money would be used.

What to watch

Whether the bond is priced this month, as people familiar with the plans told Bloomberg.

Source · Business Today MalaysiaRead original ↗Report an error
Masayoshi SonPolicyAI & tech9984.TAI read · — Do as I say

SoftBank's Son warns AI 'super dangerous' in wrong hands

The move

Speaking at a science forum in Kyoto on Oct. 4, Masayoshi Son said superintelligent AI could become "super dangerous" if it falls into the wrong hands, and called for countries to cooperate on controlling it. He announced no change to SoftBank's own AI spending.

Why it matters

It's a notably cautious tone from one of AI's biggest financial backers — Son has committed more than $64 billion to OpenAI alone and has dismissed bubble talk over the past year.

The bear case

The warning came with no funding pullback, safety program or investment condition attached, so it reads more as a policy talking point than a change in strategy.

What to watch

Whether Son's comments lead to any new safety commitments from SoftBank's AI portfolio companies.

Source · The Star (Malaysia)Read original ↗Report an error
Henry SamueliInvestmentAI & techAVGOAI read · ▲ Chip financing

Broadcom lines up $50B to finance OpenAI's custom chips

The move

The Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 7 that Broadcom is trying to arrange more than $50 billion in financing for custom AI chips it is co-developing with OpenAI, with Apollo Global Management and Blackstone among the private lenders approached. The financing would support chips tied to OpenAI's plan to deploy 10 gigawatts of AI accelerators by the end of 2029. The same report said Oracle and SpaceX are separately in talks with lenders including Apollo, Blackstone and Goldman Sachs on their own AI chip and compute deals.

Why it matters

It shows AI's buildout increasingly running on borrowed money arranged by chipmakers and banks, not just the cash reserves of the AI labs themselves.

The bear case

Talks are early, no deal is expected before year-end, and none of the companies involved has confirmed the size or structure of the financing.

What to watch

Whether Broadcom's financing, and the parallel Oracle and SpaceX deals, are finalized before year-end.

Source · CryptoBriefingRead original ↗Report an error

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