Eric German Named to Variety's 2025 "Dealmakers Impact Report"
Eric German was named to Variety's 2025 "Dealmakers Impact Report," published on December 31, 2025.
About the report...
It’s no exaggeration to say that 2025 was a landmark in the annals of showbiz dealmaking. The year saw several transactions that not only involved billions of dollars changing corporate hands but also transformed the entertainment landscape. There was also unprecedented drama. Skydance Media closed its $8.4 billion merger with Paramount in August, putting the 113-year-old studio in the hands of David Ellison, the scion of tech mega-billionaire Larry Ellison. Five months later, the resulting corporate entity, Paramount Skydance, made a hostile, $108 billion takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, which had just agreed to a $82.7 billion acquisition by Netflix. Complicating it all are Paramount Skydance’s dealings with the Trump administration and related parties, including initial backing from Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners in its bid for WBD, which was pulled in mid-December.
Less publicized was Affinity’s participation alongside Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Silver Lake in a $55 billion leveraged buyout of game-making giant Electronic Arts.
Along the way, there were some bright spots, like Taylor Swift realizing her long-held ambition to buy back the masters to her first six albums, which she accomplished in a deal with Shamrock Partners worth a reported $360 million. Meanwhile, the appetite for high-dollar music catalog acquisitions continued unabated, which speaks to the good overall health of the music industry.
Above everything looms the fast-rising specter of AI. Some view it as an existential threat; others as an unprecedented opportunity. Whatever it is, you can rest assured that the Variety Dealmakers profiled on this page will find a way to profit from it.
From the report...
After spending much of 2025 facilitating over $100 million worth of catalog sales and reuniting formerly disgruntled bands such as Mudvayne, Flyleaf and Biohazard, German (who “lives, breathes and eats rock music”) is jazzed about projects that blend the world of film and music, such as the music video his client Ice Nine Kills made for the indie horror film “Terrifier 3” that binds detached storylines.
Keeping fans connected: “I’m excited about building universes, experiences and bringing fans into immersive worlds that have continuing storylines as you might see in a graphic novel,” he says
