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Paramount has already proven it can get a controversial merger done.
Credit: Cheng Xin/Getty Images
Netflix won the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD’s) streaming and movie studio businesses last week. But Paramount Skydance isn’t relenting on its dreams of owning WBD and is pushing forward with a hostile takeover bid.
On Friday, Netflix announced that it had agreed to pay an equity value of $72 billion, or an approximate total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, for WBD’s streaming and film businesses, as well as its film and TV libraries. The deal includes HBO and the HBO Max streaming service but not WBD’s cable channels, which are to be split off ahead of the acquisition into a separate company called Discovery Global. Netflix said WBD’s split should conclude in Q3 2026.
Paramount has different plans, though.
After previously questioning the “fairness and adequacy” of WBD’s bidding process, Paramount announced today that it’s still trying to buy all of WBD, including what is set to become Discovery Global. Its announcement said:
Despite Paramount submitting six proposals over the course of 12 weeks, WBD never engaged meaningfully with these proposals which we believe deliver the best outcome for WBD shareholders. Paramount has now taken its offer directly to WBD shareholders and its Board of Directors to ensure they have the opportunity to pursue this clearly superior alternative.
Paramount said it wants to pay $108.4 billion for WBD, or $30 per share, “which represents a 139 percent premium to the undisturbed WBD stock price of $12.54 as of September 10, 2025.”
It has been reported that WBD rejected Paramount’s bid because WBD thinks it could see more long-term value from separating into two companies than from allowing Paramount to buy all of WBD.
David Ellison, Paramount’s CEO and chairman, in a statement argued that the Netflix deal could hurt WBD’s current shareholders partially due to the “uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business. …”
In response, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said today that Paramount’s takeover bid “was entirely expected.”
“We have a deal done, and we are really happy with the deal for shareholders [and] for consumers. It’s a great way to create protect jobs in the entertainment industry,” he added while speaking at a UBS conference, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Paramount thinks it could get a merger approved
One of the biggest questions for any WBD deal is whether antitrust regulations will allow it to go through.
Paramount’s declaration of an attempted hostile takeover today heavily emphasized the regulatory hurdles that Netflix’s acquisition could face in the US and abroad:
In many European Union countries the Netflix transaction would combine the dominant SVOD [subscription video on demand] player with the number two or strong number three competitor. The Netflix transaction creates a clear risk of higher prices for consumers, lower pay for content creators and talent and the destruction of American and international theatrical exhibitors. Netflix has never undertaken large-scale acquisitions, resulting in increased execution risk which WBD shareholders would have to endure.
In the US, HBO Max could be considered the fourth-biggest video streaming service if you rank the companies based on subscriber count. Netflix had 301.63 million subscribers as of January. WBD has 128 million streaming subscribers in total, with most of them being HBO Max users. Paramount+ had 79.1 million subscribers as of November.
However, Paramount’s announcement notably overlooks the regulatory hurdles expected to come from trying to combine two of the biggest Hollywood film studios as well as two large news corporations, CNN and CBS News.
Paramount has already successfully navigated the current regulatory landscape under US President Donald Trump and merged with rival studio Skydance in August. Some lawmakers have questioned whether Paramount paid Trump a $16 million settlement over a CBS News report in order to help get the merger approved. Larry Ellison, David Ellison’s father and co-founder and CTO of Oracle, is also friends with Trump.
In today’s announcement, Paramount seemed assured that it could get a merger with WBD approved, saying, “Paramount is highly confident in achieving expeditious regulatory clearance for its proposed offer.”
Although the US Department of Justice (DOJ) holds the power to block mergers that it deems to go against antitrust laws, Trump’s influence over the DOJ can’t be overlooked. While Paramount previously seemed to establish a good relationship with the president, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos may have done the same recently.
Sarandos “spoke with the president in the last couple of weeks in a confab that lasted about two hours,” The Hollywood Reporter reported on Sunday, citing “multiple” anonymous sources. A White House official told the publication that they can’t comment on “private meetings that may or may not have occurred,” and Netflix didn’t respond to the publication’s requests for comment.
Meanwhile, Trump’s relationship with the Ellisons and Paramount may have taken a turn recently. Today, the president lashed out at Paramount over an interview with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) that aired on the news program 60 Minutes. As he said on Truth Social, per The Hollywood Reporter: “My real problem with the show, however, wasn’t the low IQ traitor, it was that the new ownership of 60 Minutes, Paramount, would allow a show like this to air. THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP, who just paid me millions of Dollars for FAKE REPORTING about your favorite President, ME! Since they bought it, 60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE.”
Appealing to the movie theater industry
The movie theater industry is one of the biggest critics of Netflix’s WB acquisition due to fear that the streaming leader won’t release as many movies to theaters for as long and may drive down licensing fees. Paramount is leaning into this trepidation.
As one of the oldest film studios (Paramount was founded as Famous Players Film Company in 1912), Paramount has much deeper ties to the theater business. Ellison claimed that if Paramount and WBD merge, there will be “a greater number of movies in theaters.”
Sarandos said last week that Netflix plans to maintain WBD’s current theater release schedule, which reportedly goes through 2029.
In terms of streaming, Paramount’s announcement pointed to a “combination of Paramount+ and HBO Max,” lending credence to a November report that Paramount would fold HBO Max into its own flagship streaming service if it buys WBD.
With numerous industries, big names, billions of dollars, and politics all at play, the saga of the WBD split and/or merger is only just beginning.
This article was updated on December 8 at 2:31 p.m. ET with comment from Sarandos.
grommit!
https://www.axios.com/2025/12/08/jared-kushner-paramount-warner-bros-netflix
Credit: Cheng Xin/Getty Images
Netflix won the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD’s) streaming and movie studio businesses last week. But Paramount Skydance isn’t relenting on its dreams of owning WBD and is pushing forward with a hostile takeover bid.
On Friday, Netflix announced that it had agreed to pay an equity value of $72 billion, or an approximate total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, for WBD’s streaming and film businesses, as well as its film and TV libraries. The deal includes HBO and the HBO Max streaming service but not WBD’s cable channels, which are to be split off ahead of the acquisition into a separate company called Discovery Global. Netflix said WBD’s split should conclude in Q3 2026.
Paramount has different plans, though.
After previously questioning the “fairness and adequacy” of WBD’s bidding process, Paramount announced today that it’s still trying to buy all of WBD, including what is set to become Discovery Global. Its announcement said:
Despite Paramount submitting six proposals over the course of 12 weeks, WBD never engaged meaningfully with these proposals which we believe deliver the best outcome for WBD shareholders. Paramount has now taken its offer directly to WBD shareholders and its Board of Directors to ensure they have the opportunity to pursue this clearly superior alternative.
Paramount said it wants to pay $108.4 billion for WBD, or $30 per share, “which represents a 139 percent premium to the undisturbed WBD stock price of $12.54 as of September 10, 2025.”
It has been reported that WBD rejected Paramount’s bid because WBD thinks it could see more long-term value from separating into two companies than from allowing Paramount to buy all of WBD.
David Ellison, Paramount’s CEO and chairman, in a statement argued that the Netflix deal could hurt WBD’s current shareholders partially due to the “uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business. …”
In response, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said today that Paramount’s takeover bid “was entirely expected.”
“We have a deal done, and we are really happy with the deal for shareholders [and] for consumers. It’s a great way to create protect jobs in the entertainment industry,” he added while speaking at a UBS conference, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Paramount thinks it could get a merger approved
One of the biggest questions for any WBD deal is whether antitrust regulations will allow it to go through.
Paramount’s declaration of an attempted hostile takeover today heavily emphasized the regulatory hurdles that Netflix’s acquisition could face in the US and abroad:
In many European Union countries the Netflix transaction would combine the dominant SVOD [subscription video on demand] player with the number two or strong number three competitor. The Netflix transaction creates a clear risk of higher prices for consumers, lower pay for content creators and talent and the destruction of American and international theatrical exhibitors. Netflix has never undertaken large-scale acquisitions, resulting in increased execution risk which WBD shareholders would have to endure.
In the US, HBO Max could be considered the fourth-biggest video streaming service if you rank the companies based on subscriber count. Netflix had 301.63 million subscribers as of January. WBD has 128 million streaming subscribers in total, with most of them being HBO Max users. Paramount+ had 79.1 million subscribers as of November.
However, Paramount’s announcement notably overlooks the regulatory hurdles expected to come from trying to combine two of the biggest Hollywood film studios as well as two large news corporations, CNN and CBS News.
Paramount has already successfully navigated the current regulatory landscape under US President Donald Trump and merged with rival studio Skydance in August. Some lawmakers have questioned whether Paramount paid Trump a $16 million settlement over a CBS News report in order to help get the merger approved. Larry Ellison, David Ellison’s father and co-founder and CTO of Oracle, is also friends with Trump.
In today’s announcement, Paramount seemed assured that it could get a merger with WBD approved, saying, “Paramount is highly confident in achieving expeditious regulatory clearance for its proposed offer.”
Although the US Department of Justice (DOJ) holds the power to block mergers that it deems to go against antitrust laws, Trump’s influence over the DOJ can’t be overlooked. While Paramount previously seemed to establish a good relationship with the president, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos may have done the same recently.
Sarandos “spoke with the president in the last couple of weeks in a confab that lasted about two hours,” The Hollywood Reporter reported on Sunday, citing “multiple” anonymous sources. A White House official told the publication that they can’t comment on “private meetings that may or may not have occurred,” and Netflix didn’t respond to the publication’s requests for comment.
Meanwhile, Trump’s relationship with the Ellisons and Paramount may have taken a turn recently. Today, the president lashed out at Paramount over an interview with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) that aired on the news program 60 Minutes. As he said on Truth Social, per The Hollywood Reporter: “My real problem with the show, however, wasn’t the low IQ traitor, it was that the new ownership of 60 Minutes, Paramount, would allow a show like this to air. THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP, who just paid me millions of Dollars for FAKE REPORTING about your favorite President, ME! Since they bought it, 60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE.”
Appealing to the movie theater industry
The movie theater industry is one of the biggest critics of Netflix’s WB acquisition due to fear that the streaming leader won’t release as many movies to theaters for as long and may drive down licensing fees. Paramount is leaning into this trepidation.
As one of the oldest film studios (Paramount was founded as Famous Players Film Company in 1912), Paramount has much deeper ties to the theater business. Ellison claimed that if Paramount and WBD merge, there will be “a greater number of movies in theaters.”
Sarandos said last week that Netflix plans to maintain WBD’s current theater release schedule, which reportedly goes through 2029.
In terms of streaming, Paramount’s announcement pointed to a “combination of Paramount+ and HBO Max,” lending credence to a November report that Paramount would fold HBO Max into its own flagship streaming service if it buys WBD.
With numerous industries, big names, billions of dollars, and politics all at play, the saga of the WBD split and/or merger is only just beginning.
This article was updated on December 8 at 2:31 p.m. ET with comment from Sarandos.
grommit!
However, Paramount’s announcement notably overlooks the regulatory hurdles expected to come from trying to combine two of the biggest Hollywood film studios as well as two large news corporations, CNN and CBS News.
There's a reason for that:https://www.axios.com/2025/12/08/jared-kushner-paramount-warner-bros-netflix
Affinity Partners, the private equity firm led by Jared Kushner, is part of Paramount's hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery, according to a regulatory filing.
December 8, 2025 at 6:43 pm 