John Malone is predicting SpaceX will invest $8 billion to $10 billion in Skydance

John Malone, chairman emeritus of Liberty Media, predicted on Wednesday that Elon Musk’s SpaceX will invest $8 billion to $10 billion in Skydance, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The media mogul also said he expects a global output deal between the two companies.

Malone spoke at the Paley Center International Council Summit in New York with Liberty Global chief John Fries, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He said the investment would reduce Skydance’s debt and ease pressure on its chairman and CEO.

“I predict, big prediction, that you’ll see a global output deal for Skydance with SpaceX, and an investment by SpaceX into Skydance, to delever Skydance and take a little bit of the burden off David Ellison’s shoulders, because he’s taking on a pretty big pile of debt,” Malone said, according to Bloomberg.

Malone pointed to the relationship between Musk and David Ellison's father, Oracle $ORCL co-founder Larry Ellison.

"Who helped Elon finance Twitter $TWTR when he bought it? Larry Ellison," Malone said. "How did Larry Ellison come up with some of the money to put into the creation of Skydance? Tesla $TSLA stock. And I would not doubt for a minute that before very long you're gonna see an announcement."

A Skydance representative declined to comment, according to Bloomberg. SpaceX had not responded to a request for comment, Bloomberg said.

The Hollywood Reporter said rumors have circulated that Musk might put money into Skydance through an effort by David Ellison and RedBird to syndicate equity in the company. A formal SpaceX tie-up would go further than that, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Skydance completed its all-cash acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this month, according to Bloomberg. Skydance stock has fallen since the deal closed amid concerns about the combined company's debt, according to Bloomberg.

Larry Ellison has pledged shares of Oracle, Tesla, SpaceX and Paramount $PARA Skydance as collateral for bank loans while the deal neared completion. JPMorgan $JPM added SpaceX and Paramount Skydance stock to a loan agreement on Oct. 1, and Citigroup $C made similar additions on Sept. 25.

The Ellison family invested about $17 billion in the acquisition, which closed on Oct. 6. The transaction included $47 billion of new equity investment, priced at $12.00 per share, and the combined company now trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD.