Paramounts threat to flee California could cost state nearly 58K jobs, $21B a year: leaked report

California could lose as many as 58,000 jobs and more than $21 billion annually if Paramount follows through on a threat to move its headquarters and operations out of the state amid a widening antitrust fight over its Warner Bros.Discovery takeover, according to a new economic analysis.The preliminary report by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.’s Institute for Applied Economics examines the fallout if Paramount abandons California after a coalition of 12 Democratic state attorneys general, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, sued to block the merger.The report was first obtained by Politico.Absent a deal, Paramount has indicated it would be compelled to move its headquarters and thousands of jobs out of California beginning Oct.

1, potentially to Georgia, Tennessee or Texas, the analysis said.The stakes could be enormous.A full relocation of Paramount’s California operations would result in the permanent loss of between 28,990 and 57,980 full-time jobs statewide, including direct jobs and employment supported through vendors and household spending, according to the report.California could also lose between $10.6 billion and $21.2 billion in annual economic output, while state and local tax revenue could fall by roughly $585 million to $1.17 billion a year.The report stressed that those figures represent a worst-case scenario based on assumptions about Paramount’s California footprint because the company does not publicly break out operating expenses or employment by state.Paramount reported about $19.7 billion in operating expenses in 2025, according to the analysis.LAEDC assumed that between 30% and 60% of those expenses — roughly $5.9 billion to $11.8 billion annually — are tied to economic activity in California.Even a slower pullback could deliver a sizable hit.If Paramount reduced California spending to help offset roughly $1.88 billion in merger-related ticking fees and financing costs, and spread those reductions evenly ...