How Ted Sarandos became the ultimate Hollywood gate-crasher

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Hollywood moguls once dismissed the outsize ambitions of Netflix’s executives.“Is the Albanian army going to take over the world?” former Time Warner Chairman Jeff Bewkes asked a reporter 15 years ago.

“I don’t think so.” Think again.On Friday, Netflix co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos pulled off an audacious $82-billion deal to buy much of Bewkes’ old haunts: the Warner Bros.

film and TV studios in Burbank, and HBO and the HBO Max streaming service in Culver City.Hollywood Inc.

A theater owner trade group immediately blasted Netflix’s nearly $83-billion deal to buy Warner Bros.and HBO.

Netflix has long bypassed movie theaters, instead releasing films onto its streaming platform.“This is a rare opportunity,” Sarandos said in an investor call.“It’s going to help us achieve our mission to entertain the world and to bring people together through great stories.

We’ve built a great business, and to do that, we’ve had to be bold and continue to evolve.”If the takeover is approved — it could face a raft of legal and regulatory challenges — Netflix would gain ownership of such classics as “Casablanca” and “Goonies” and popular characters including Batman, Scooby-Doo, Dirty Harry and Harry Potter.The acquisition represents a moment of triumph for the brash Sarandos, who has gone from Hollywood gate-crasher to the ultimate power broker.“There seems to be no ceiling of opportunity for Ted Sarandos,” said Tom Nunan, a former studio and network executive.

“He’s the king of Hollywood.” Netflix’s victory in the auction for Warner Bros.stunned many in Hollywood who figured Paramount — whose bid was backed by the one of the world’s wealthiest men, Larry Ellison — had a lock on the prized Warner assets.

Even Netflix’s brass downplayed their merger ambitions as recently as two months ago.Co-Chief Executive Greg Peters shrugged off...