Paramount Skydance has launched a $108.4 billion all‑cash hostile bid to buy all of Warner Bros. Discovery, making the offer three days after Netflix unveiled a deal to acquire most of Warner Bros. in a transaction valued at roughly $82.7 billion. The approach was taken directly to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders.
Paramount Skydance — which owns CBS News — argues the Netflix‑Warner combination would join the No. 1 and No. 3 streaming services and create unprecedented market power. CEO David Ellison warned the deal would suppress competition, hurt Hollywood’s creative community and harm consumers.
Netflix co‑CEO Ted Sarandos countered that Netflix already has a deal in hand and is confident it will close. Paramount Skydance’s bid reportedly draws financing from the Ellison family, Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, a Chinese technology company and a private‑equity firm tied to Jared Kushner. Oracle chairman Larry Ellison, who has long supported President Trump, is connected to the Ellison family funding. The president — who recently met with Netflix’s co‑CEO — said he did not view the bidders as close allies and that he wants to “do what’s right.”
Journalists and industry analysts have flagged potential consumer impacts. Puck’s Matt Belloni suggested a Netflix win could lead to fewer theatrical releases, and that either outcome risks further industry consolidation, reduced choice and higher prices. The Paramount Skydance offer to shareholders is scheduled to expire on January 8.
Whatever path unfolds, antitrust scrutiny is expected: analysts say the Department of Justice — and possibly the Federal Trade Commission — will closely review any major consolidation in streaming and media, making regulatory hurdles a central factor in the fate of these competing bids.