Paramount Considering Moving its HQ, Pulling $30B Annual Spending out of California

Ellison moved Paramount’s HQ from New York to Los Angeles after the Skydance merger closed in 2025 and has deep ties to the state.

But Paramount already has leased nearly 300,000 square feet of studio space in Bayonne, New Jersey, last year.

Several states led by California and New York are preparing antitrust lawsuits, arguing the deal would reduce competition in media and entertainment, Crypto Briefing reports. They continue:

Paramount has structured the deal with a closing target of September or October 2026, and if it misses that window, the company faces a $6.9 million daily penalty payable to shareholders. That’s not the kind of meter you want running while state attorneys general sharpen their legal briefs.

The coalition preparing the lawsuit reportedly includes California and at least 10 other states, with draft complaints under preparation since early June. The group spans both Democratic and Republican AG offices, which makes this less of a partisan play and more of a genuine regulatory standoff over market concentration in media.

Other regulators worldwide have largely cleared it or raised no major issues. Paramount has offered commitments like producing 30 films annually with theatrical windows and maintaining California operations to address job and content-spending concerns. California’s film/TV production has already seen a significant exodus to other states and Canada due to high costs, with thousands of jobs lost in recent years. Ellison’s team argues the combined company would boost spending and employment in the state.

Major companies have relocated headquarters and entire company operations from California over the state’s hostile business-climate.

California’s own Chevron Oil Company moved its headquarters to Houston, Texas from San Ramon, CA where it was based since 1879, one of the biggest businesses to flee the Golden State. Chevron is in good company joining X/Twitter, Space X, Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Charles Schwab, and Toyota Motor North America, Nissei America, Inc., Yamaha Motor Corp. U.S.A., The Joe Rogan Experience, Gordon Ramsay North America, The Rubin Report, Ruiz Foods, Blue Diamond Growers, Leprino Foods, Anheuser-Busch, GAF Energy, are just just a few of the businesses who left California because of the state’s leftist/Marxist politics and regulatory environment.

Much of Hollywood production has already moved outside California for tax incentives, filming projects in states across the country.

 The situation could evolve quickly depending on whether California actually sues.