Scale & Strategy
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This is Scale & Strategy, the business newsletter equivalent of switching on ‘auto updates’ in your phone settings (we keep you up to date, like clockwork).
Here’re the quick highlights from the week:
- Paramount Eyes Warner Bros. Discovery After Rejected Bid
- Gold Rush Hits Manhattan’s Diamond District
Paramount Eyes Warner Bros. Discovery After Rejected Bid
David Ellison weighs direct-to-shareholder move in bid to build a media superpower
Paramount is circling Warner Bros. Discovery again after an initial offer was rebuffed — and this time, David Ellison may take his bid straight to shareholders.
According to people familiar with the matter, Ellison — fresh off his Skydance Media acquisition of Paramount — approached Warner Bros. Discovery in late September with a majority-cash proposal backed heavily by the Ellison family’s capital. Warner’s board is aware of the offer, but CEO David Zaslav has so far resisted.
Ellison is now considering more aggressive options, including a direct appeal to shareholders.
The move comes as Warner prepares to split the company in two — one entity for its TV, film, and streaming assets, and another for its cable networks. Paramount wants to act before that happens, fearing the studio and streaming business could attract multiple bidders once separated.
A combined Paramount–Warner entity would bring together two of Hollywood’s oldest studios, the CBS network, MTV, Comedy Central, and the Paramount+ and Max streaming platforms — creating a true entertainment heavyweight.
The challenge: Warner’s $35 billion debt load and a market cap that’s double Paramount’s own. But with the Ellison family’s deep pockets and potential financing from Apollo Global Management, sources say the deal isn’t out of reach.
Both companies’ stocks have surged this year — Paramount up 45%, Warner up 60% — as investors speculate on consolidation plays in the media space.
Ellison has long wanted to merge the two studios, saying last week at a Bloomberg conference, “We have the capital and resources to be opportunistic.”
Zaslav, meanwhile, remains adamant that Warner isn’t for sale, arguing that the planned split offers shareholders more value long-term.
Still, with regulatory attitudes softening under the Trump administration and mega-mergers like this year’s $70B transcontinental railroad deal clearing the way, dealmakers say Ellison’s timing might be just right.
If successful, the merger would form one of the most powerful entertainment empires in history — and solidify Ellison’s role as the next kingmaker in Hollywood.
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Gold Rush Hits Manhattan’s Diamond District
As gold prices smash records, Midtown’s jewelry hub turns into a frenzy of buying and selling.
Manhattan’s Diamond District is in full-blown gold fever.
Lines have formed outside shops like Bullion Exchanges, where CEO Ben Tseytlin says the crowds haven’t stopped all week. “I’ll go through this all day long,” he said, as customers poured in — some to cash out old jewelry, but increasingly, to buy gold and silver.
The block-long cluster of 2,600 businesses between Fifth and Sixth Avenue — many family-run and rooted in New York’s Orthodox Jewish community — has become a magnet for investors and everyday buyers spooked by inflation and economic uncertainty.
On the street, the pitch is relentless. “Selling gold?” one vendor calls out. “Over here, buddy,” says another, flashing a business card.
At Diamond District Gold Buyers, owner Sandro Ragovski says the rush has been so intense he sometimes runs out of cash to pay sellers. “Cash runs out,” he said. “I’ve had to walk customers to the bank to get certified checks.”
Gold prices tell the story. Futures hit a record $4,043.30 per troy ounce on Wednesday, surpassing $4,000 for the first time in history. Investors are piling into bullion as a hedge against inflation, a shaky dollar, and global instability — from war in Ukraine to fears about the U.S. economic outlook under President Trump.
For months, Tseytlin says, sellers dominated the counter. Now, they’re becoming buyers — scooping up coins, bars, and Diwali-packaged gold for the holidays. “That’s not a normal thing,” he said. “People are scared. They’re buying to store it away and not tell anyone.”
One software worker, 45, bought a 1-ounce gold bar for $4,080 just before closing time. “It might even go up more,” he said.
Vintage jewelry dealer Jacqueline Mirón has seen the same trend online through her shop J.GemJewels. “There’s a wealthier clientele buying up gold because they see it as investment,” she said. “They already have the liquidity — they’ll drop $10,000 on a gold chain and call it a win by year’s end.”
In the Diamond District, where real estate is stacked and shops share storefronts, the chaos depends on street-level hustlers like Luis Gil. He spends his days handing out gold-colored flyers showing daily prices, guiding people upstairs to Insta Gold, where he works.
“Without us, the business doesn’t run,” Gil said. “Nobody would go upstairs.”
The Diamond District has always been about sparkle and hustle. But lately, it’s about something more old-fashioned — fear, value, and the instinct to hold something real.
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