SKYD Surges After Media Baron John Malone Predicts $8–10B SpaceX Investment

• The baron framed the idea as a practical way to reduce pressure on Skydance’s balance sheet while giving SpaceX a potential path into content distribution, adding that it is a “big prediction.”
• Malone highlighted longstanding financial links between Musk and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, the father of Skydance CEO David Ellison.
• Skydance completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6, creating a combined company under the Skydance name with a heavy debt load of around $80 billion.

Media mogul John Malone said on Wednesday that he sees a possible transaction between media firm Skydance (SKYD) and Elon Musk’s rocket and AI company SpaceX (SPCX).

Malone made the comments Wednesday while speaking at the Paley International Council Summit in New York. He suggested SpaceX could invest roughly $8 billion to $10 billion in Skydance as part of a broader arrangement, Bloomberg reported.

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SKYD was trading 9% higher at the time of writing, while SPCX was up 8% on reporting a first quarterly profit since its June IPO.

Malone’s Rationale For Skydance-SpaceX Deal

The baron framed the idea as a practical way to reduce pressure on Skydance’s balance sheet while giving SpaceX a potential path into content distribution, adding that it is a “big prediction.” Malone highlighted longstanding financial links between Musk and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, the father of Skydance CEO David Ellison. Larry Ellison helped finance Elon Musk’s 2022 acquisition of Twitter, and he later used Tesla stock to help fund the creation of Skydance.

Skydance completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6, creating a combined company under the Skydance name that unites major film studios, HBO, CNN, CBS, and streaming platforms. The transaction, valued at roughly $110 billion including debt, left the new entity with a heavy debt load of around $80 billion.

According to Malone, an investment by SpaceX can “take a little bit of the burden off David Ellison’s shoulders, because he’s taking on a pretty big pile of debt.”

Separately, SpaceX is exploring a potential merger with Musk’s EV company Tesla. Musk said on Tuesday during SpaceX’s third-quarter earnings call that the boards of the two companies have formed special committees of independent directors to consider a potential deal. He added that a deal is not a certainty and the committees have not reached a decision yet.

How Did SKYD, SPCX Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around SKYD fell from extremely bullish to neutral territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume fell from high to low levels. Meanwhile, sentiment around SPCX was extremely bullish at the time of writing.

A Stocktwits user opined that SKYD stock will fall hard if Malone’s speculation is proved false.

While SKYD stock has dropped 42% year-to-date, SPCX is trading above its IPO price of $135, though below its all-time highs. 

Read More: Altimeter’s Gerstner Puts $420–$550 Range On Tesla In Potential SpaceX Merger

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