John Malone Floats $10 Billion SpaceX Investment in Skydance

By Elena Vasquez

SpaceX could invest “$8 billion or $10 billion” in Skydance, John Malone said Wednesday at the Paley Center for Media’s International Council Summit in New York.

Malone, the media mogul known as “The Cable Cowboy” for investments across cable and telecom over five decades, tied the forecast to Elon Musk’s relationship with Larry Ellison: “These guys are very intertwined.”

What would SpaceX fund?

The investment would include a “global output deal” for Skydance content, Malone said, “presumably” for SpaceX’s X social platform, formerly Twitter. He said the money would help Skydance “delever” by paying down its “pretty big pile of debt.”

Skydance was formed through the $111 billion merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery. The new company carries about $80 billion in net debt.

Skydance executives aim to save $6 billion over three years through layoffs and other measures while also investing in content. Those plans leave the company balancing cuts against a large debt load.

Even Malone’s $10 billion upper estimate would cover only one-eighth of that balance if applied entirely to debt. The proposal alone would leave about $70 billion.

The investment could ease financing pressure without removing the debt burden.

Who controls Skydance?

Larry Ellison, the Oracle founder and father of Skydance CEO David Ellison, holds the largest equity stake. The Ellisons and RedBird Capital own 100% of the voting shares.

Malone did not specify whether SpaceX would provide equity, lend money or receive voting rights. On the ownership facts disclosed, a SpaceX investment would not automatically alter the voting balance.

Why does Malone expect another transaction?

At the Paley event, Malone said Ellison put about $1 billion in cash toward Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter in 2022. He also said Ellison raised “some of the money” for the Paramount-WBD deal using Tesla stock.

Semafor reported last month that David Ellison was considering contacting Musk to “become part of a syndicate of equity investors into Paramount.” The report made Musk a possible backer before Malone raised the amount and tied it to a content deal.

Those links explain Malone’s reasoning, but they do not establish a new commitment.

Has either company confirmed the investment?

A Skydance spokesperson declined to comment. A representative for Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

Malone gave no timetable, financing structure or binding agreement. The forecast has no official confirmation.

What is happening with SpaceX and Tesla?

On Tuesday, Musk said SpaceX and Tesla had formed committees to explore a potential merger. Analysts said the combined company could be worth almost $5 trillion.

“I do think there’s a lot of merit to combining the companies,” Musk said on SpaceX’s Q3 2026 earnings call. He added that a merger was not “a certainty.”

That leaves a separate, large-scale combination unresolved. Musk has left both corporate plans open.

Who is John Malone?

Malone is semi-retired. At the beginning of 2026, he stepped down as chairman of his Liberty Media and Liberty Global holding companies and adopted the title “chairman emeritus.”

His five-decade investment record supplies context, not confirmation.

The next test is whether Skydance or Musk discloses terms. Until then, the $8 billion-to-$10 billion proposal remains an unconfirmed forecast linked to a possible global content partnership.