EA's $55 Billion Buyout Is Done — Can It Cut Deep Enough to Survive the Debt It Took on to Go Private?

Reports emerged this week that Electronic Arts, just days after completing the largest leveraged buyout in history, has already promised its lenders $700 million in annual cost cuts — a signal that the real price of going private will be paid by the people who make its games.

The Debt Math Doesn't Add Up Without Surgery. The consortium structured the deal with roughly $36 billion in equity and $20 billion in debt financing.

EA now carries approximately $18 billion in net debt, generating estimated annual interest payments of $1.8 billion — a figure that exceeds the publisher's own annual EBITDA (a measure of operating profit before accounting adjustments) of roughly $1.5 billion. In plain terms: EA's current earnings cannot fully cover its interest bill, let alone repay principal or fund new games. The $700 million in cuts is not optional; it's arithmetic.

"Organizational Efficiencies" Means Mass Layoffs. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier revealed that EA told debt investors it plans to cut $700 million in annual costs, including $170 million in "organizational efficiencies."

Analysts expect cuts to fall hardest outside EA's money-making sports games, with anything non-service or slow-building first on the chopping block.

EA has already eliminated roughly 1,885 jobs between 2023 and 2026 — the next wave could be significantly larger.

Going Private Kills Public Accountability. EA no longer needs to disclose detailed financial results every quarter.

PIF holds 93.4% of the company, with Silver Lake at 5.5% and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners at 1.1%. Without public filings, investors, players, and employees will have far less visibility into how aggressively costs are being slashed — or how much creative capacity is being hollowed out.

The Franchise Cash Cow Has to Work Harder Than Ever. EA generated approximately $7.5 billion in revenue in fiscal 2026.

Ultimate Team, the in-game spending mode inside EA Sports FC, is now the single highest-value recurring revenue stream inside the $55 billion asset — and exactly what the private-equity owners will lean on hardest to service the new debt. If that engine stalls, the entire capital structure is at risk. The question is whether a game publisher stripped for parts can still build games worth playing.