The battle for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has become Hollywood's most dramatic corporate saga, with Netflix Inc. (NFLX) and Paramount Skydance (PSKY) locked in a high-stakes fight for control of the HBO owner.
When Warner Bros. decided to favor Netflix's $82.7 billion offer, it lit the fuse on something much bigger. Paramount responded with a $108 billion hostile takeover bid for the company's entire media empire. The Larry Ellison-backed media firm, run by his son David Ellison, is now urging Warner shareholders to sell directly to Paramount.
How This Media War Unfolded
Nov. 20, 2024: Three bidders—Netflix, Comcast (CMCSA), and Paramount—submit first-round offers for Warner Bros. Discovery.
Dec. 1: The competition heats up. Comcast proposes merging its NBCUniversal media company with Warner Bros. and HBO. Netflix sweetens its offer for the studios and HBO. Paramount raises its bid to $26.50 per share. Ellison's company had already submitted multiple offers before this deadline.
Dec. 5: Netflix announces a deal to acquire Warner Bros.
Dec. 8: Paramount launches its massive $108 billion hostile bid. David Ellison claims Warner Bros. never even responded to Paramount's offer.
Dec. 10: Things get political. President Donald Trump slams CNN as a "disgrace" and demands the news network be sold as part of any deal. That same day, Paramount CEO David Ellison sends a letter directly to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders offering $30 per share in cash, arguing that Paramount and partner RedBird Capital are best positioned to create long-term value.
Dec. 15: Netflix moves to calm nervous employees, defending the Warner Bros. deal as a "win" for the streaming giant.
Dec. 16: Plot twist. Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law whose private equity firm had pledged $200 million, withdraws from Paramount's bidding team.
Dec. 17: Warner Bros. formally rejects Paramount's hostile bid, accusing the Ellison family of failing to put real money into the deal and concluding that Netflix's offer is far superior.
Dec. 22, 2024: Larry Ellison, worth more than $240 billion, steps up with a $40.4 billion personal guarantee backing Paramount's bid. The amended offer comes after Warner's sharp criticism of Paramount's $30-per-share proposal, which cited financing opacity and execution risk. Paramount urges shareholders to tender their shares by Jan. 21 and raises its reverse termination fee to $5.8 billion.
The stakes couldn't be higher. We're watching a battle between streaming's biggest player and one of tech's richest families for control of a legacy media empire that includes HBO, CNN, and Warner Bros. studios. And it's all happening in real time.