Escape from LA: David Ellison plans Paramount exit if prosecutors refuse to negotiate by deadline

Paramount’s board has approved a plan to move the Hollywood studio out of California if the state’s attorney general Rob Bonta doesn’t agree to settlement talks in his bitter antitrust case by Oct.1, according to reports.Paramount CEO David Ellison told his top lieutenants last week that his company would relocate to Tennessee, Texas, Georgia or another state if Bonta refuses to come to the table in his case opposing Paramount’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros.

Discovery, Puck and Variety reported Tuesday.The mogul discussed the ultimatum during an hourlong lunch meeting last Wednesday with Paramount’s 12-member Executive Leadership Team on the company’s storied Hollywood lot, according to Puck, which cited two people with direct knowledge of the meeting.Ellison told the group that Paramount’s board, which he controls, had already signed off on the relocation plan, the report said.The 43-year-old son of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison set an Oct.1 deadline for resolving the dispute since that’s the date a so-called $7 million-per-day “ticking fee” tied to the Warner Bros.

deal is set to kick in, according to the report.If there are no negotiations, Ellison said he would move either Paramount or the combined Paramount-Warner Bros.company out of California regardless of how the antitrust litigation ultimately plays out, Puck reported.The Post has sought comment from Paramount and Bonta.Ellison said the headquarters would be the first operation to relocate, with incentives from whichever state ultimately lands the company helping finance the move, according to the report.He is already in contact with multiple states and is developing a five-year plan that would eventually shift most of the studio’s jobs to its new home, Puck reported.Ellison estimated that leaving California would save Paramount $500 million a year in taxes.The company could also raise cash by selling the Paramount and Warner Bros.

studio lots, each of which has been v...