Hollywood's Biggest Bet: Paramount Skydance Poised to Acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in $111 Billion Deal
In a stunning reversal that sent shockwaves through Hollywood, Warner Bros. Discovery's board of directors declared Thursday that Paramount Skydance's latest takeover bid is "superior" to a previously agreed-upon deal with Netflix — and within hours, Netflix walked away entirely, effectively handing one of the industry's most coveted properties to CEO David Ellison.
The move caps a months-long bidding war that was equal parts corporate drama and political theater, and it positions Paramount Skydance to become one of the most powerful media empires on the planet.
The Deal
The bid values Warner Bros. Discovery at approximately $111 billion, or $31 a share — up from Paramount's earlier $30-per-share proposal and well above the economics of Netflix's $83 billion pact announced in December. That December deal, which would have given Netflix access to Warner Bros.' studios, HBO, and Max, never sat entirely well with the theatrical community or with Paramount's relentlessly ambitious CEO.
Netflix formally declined to increase its offer after WBD's board declared Paramount Skydance's latest bid a "superior proposal." The swift decision by Netflix to walk away shocked the industry, particularly because the streamer had four business days to come up with a new proposal to salvage its deal.
"The deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid," Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a joint statement.
A Persistent Underdog Story
For Ellison, the deal is the culmination of a campaign that seemed, at multiple points, destined to fail. Warner Bros. had repeatedly rebuffed Paramount's attempts at reviving talks, and WBD CEO David Zaslav had stopped responding to Ellison's messages. Warner Bros. announced Netflix's bid as clearly superior before last week, when Paramount slipped in one more offer suggesting it would raise its price by a dollar a share, agreed to pay the $2.8 billion termination fee Warner Bros. would owe Netflix for bowing out, and offered other sweeteners.
The persistence paid off. Paramount's bid stands out not just on headline price but on the protections it offered to reassure Warner Bros. Discovery and its investors, including a $7 billion reverse termination fee if regulators block the transaction and a "ticking fee" of 25 cents per share per quarter if closing drags beyond the fall.
A Media Giant Takes Shape
If the deal clears regulatory hurdles, the combined entity would be staggering in scope. Paramount CEO David Ellison will assemble a sprawling entertainment and news empire with dozens of TV channels, multiple movie studios, and two leading newsrooms. That means Paramount Plus, CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon under the same roof as HBO, Max, CNN, DC Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, and the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises.
The Warner Bros. movie studio is a significant part of why Ellison has been so committed to winning over WBD's board and shareholders. Last year, Warner Bros. was the second-highest grossing studio at the domestic box office. Paramount was fourth. CNBC Adding WBD's IP library — which includes DC superheroes, Game of Thrones, Dune, and the Godzilla and King Kong franchises — would dramatically elevate Paramount's competitive standing against Disney and Comcast's NBCUniversal.
Political Undercurrents
The deal has never been purely a business story. David Ellison's offer relies on the fortune of his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, and David Ellison has argued to shareholders that his company would have a smoother path to regulatory approval in Washington. NPR Not coincidentally, Larry Ellison is a financial backer of President Trump, and David Ellison was photographed at the State of the Union address with close Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham. Meanwhile, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos was lobbying Trump administration officials in Washington on the very afternoon the WBD board announced its change of heart.
The political dimensions did not go unnoticed. California Attorney General Rob Bonta wasted no time issuing a statement: "Paramount/Warner Bros is not a done deal." Senator Elizabeth Warren also weighed in with concerns about the consolidation of media power.
The Road Ahead
Make no mistake — this merger is far from a done deal. A Warner Bros. Discovery shareholder vote is scheduled for March 20, and the company and Paramount will need to agree to and release specific deal terms soon. A deal between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery would also need to be approved by government regulators. NBC News The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has already scheduled a hearing on the matter for March 4.
For audiences, workers, and the creative community, the questions are enormous. What happens to CNN's editorial independence? Will HBO maintain its prestige brand identity? What does consolidation of this scale mean for writers, actors, and below-the-line workers who rely on the residuals and backend participation that a more traditional studio structure has historically supported?
Those answers won't come quickly. But one thing is clear: Hollywood will never look the same.