Power, politics and a $2.8-billion exit: How Paramount topped Netflix to win Warner Bros.
This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.
The morning after Netflix clinched its deal to buy Warner Bros., Paramount Skydance Chairman David Ellison assembled a war room of trusted advisors, including his billionaire father, Larry Ellison.Furious at Warner Bros.Discovery Chief David Zaslav for ending the auction, the Ellisons and their team began plotting their comeback on that crisp December day.
Hollywood Inc.What the Paramount-Warner Bros.
Discovery deal means for the cable network CNN.To rattle Warner Bros.Discovery and its investors, they launched a three-front campaign: a lawsuit, a hostile takeover bid and direct lobbying of the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress.“There was a master battle plan — and it was extremely disciplined,” said one auction insider who was not authorized to comment publicly.
Netflix stunned the industry late Thursday by pulling out of the bidding, clearing the way for Paramount to claim the company that owns HBO, HBO Max, CNN, TBS, Food Network and the Warner Bros.film and television studios in Burbank.
The deal was valued at more than $111 billion.The streaming giant’s reversal came just hours after co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos met with Atty Gen.Pam Bondi and a deputy at the White House.
It was a cordial session, but the Trump officials told Sarandos that his deal was facing significant hurdles in Washington, according to a person close to the administration who was not authorized to comment publicly.Even before that meeting, the tide had turned for Paramount in a swell of power, politics and brinkmanship.Hollywood Inc.
Paramount chief David Ellison, who has pursued Warner Bros.since the fall, said he was pleased Warner’s board ‘unanimously affirmed the superior value of our offer.’“Netflix played their cards well; however, Paramount played their cards perfectly,” said Jonathan Miller, chief executive of Integrated Media Co.
“They did exactly w...