Skydance Adds Laurene Powell Jobs and Bobby Kotick to Its Board

Skydance has added Laurene Powell Jobs and Bobby Kotick to its board of directors, according to a Form 8-K signed on October 6, 2026, and filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A company press release issued the same day through PRNewswire names the same two directors. The 8-K says the board appointed Kotick on October 4 and Powell Jobs on October 5, with both seats taking effect at the closing of the merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. The 8-K names the former Activision chief executive as Robert A. Kotick.

October 5 is the date of Powell Jobs's appointment, not the date of the filing. The press release says both directors join effective immediately, which differs from the 8-K. Ynon Kreiz, co-chief executive of Skydance, is also named a board member, and Tony Blair is named as an adviser. As of October 7, 2026, the sources reviewed agree on the names but not on when the seats take effect.

What the 8-K and the press release each say

The 8-K is made under Item 5.02, which covers changes to a company's directors and certain officers. It gives October 4, 2026 as the date of the earliest event reported, and dates Kotick's appointment to that day.

The press release, issued under the name Skydance Corporation (NYSE: SKYD), describes Powell Jobs and Kotick as independent directors. It says the designees join effective immediately and lists no committee assignments. The 8-K differs on two points: it ties both seats to the closing, and it assigns Kotick to the Nominating and Governance Committee.

Both directors are eligible for the company's Director Program, which includes a pro-rated annual award on appointment and an annual award at future stockholder meetings if each keeps serving. Each has also entered the company's standard director and officer indemnification agreement, according to the 8-K.

Who the two new directors are

The release describes Powell Jobs as the founder and president of Emerson Collective and as an investor in journalism and media. It says her work also covers education, climate and community initiatives, and credits her with a model that combines venture investing with philanthropic grant-making. Journalism is the media-business link the release draws. The 8-K adds that she is majority investor and chair of the board of The Atlantic, and that the board considers her qualified because of her investing experience and her focus on high-quality journalism.

The release says Kotick is the founder and former chief executive of Activision, where he served for 32 years. It cites the sale of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft for $68.7 billion. Game Informer describes him as the former Activision chief executive. The release gives no other role for him. The 8-K does not call him a founder; it says he joined Activision in 1991 by acquiring a stake in the company, which was then on the verge of insolvency, and served as its chief executive until Microsoft's 2023 acquisition, a 32-year span that matches the release's figure. The 8-K says the board considers Kotick qualified because of his experience running a public company in the media industry.

Board leadership and the wider slate

David Ellison chairs the board and remains chairman and chief executive of Skydance, according to the release and t2online. The release lists nine other director designees, all current Paramount board members. They include Sherry Lansing, former chairman and chief executive of Paramount Pictures, and Safra A. Catz, executive vice chair and former chief executive of Oracle.

Ynon Kreiz is listed as co-chief executive of Skydance and a board member. The release gives no further background for him and does not label him independent. Tony Blair, former UK prime minister and executive chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, is named as a board advisor acting in a personal capacity.

The 8-K page reviewed describes only Powell Jobs and Kotick. The appointments of Kreiz and Blair appear in the press release and in the t2online report.

Where the timing is still unsettled

The 8-K ties both seats to the merger closing. The press release and t2online report that the directors take effect immediately.

The merger's closing date is also reported inconsistently. Game Informer says Paramount's takeover of Warner Bros. was complete 'as of yesterday,' which places it on October 6. A Pulse 2.0 article dated September 22 says the acquisition had been completed, without giving a closing date, which conflicts with the October 6 reporting.

The 8-K and the press release are both company documents, and they disagree. Until a closing announcement or further filing settles the matter, the effective date of each seat should be treated as unconfirmed.