Paramount Launches Hostile Bid For WBD After Trump Comments

Paramount-Skydance has ratcheted up Hollywood’s biggest merger battle, making a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery days after Netflix entered an agreement to purchase the studio. The maneuver comes just as President Trump has raised antitrust concerns about a combined Netflix–WBD, injecting a dose of political uncertainty into an already convoluted deal environment.

Inside Paramount’s Hostile Offer to Acquire WBD

Paramount proposed to pay $30 a share for WBD, which would value the target at about $108.4 billion, according to people with knowledge of the offer. Paramount’s proposal to buy the whole of WBD, including its Global Networks division, contrasts with Netflix’s idea, and is being marketed as a simpler and more complete offer.

In letters to WBD management, Paramount says its bid represents more definite value and reduced execution risks. The company says that it reached out to WBD multiple times over the last quarter with several proposals but was rejected, leading it to take its appeal directly to shareholders and the board.

Structural Hurdles on Netflix Plan for Warner Bros. Discovery

Netflix’s deal for $82.7 billion does not include some WBD assets and is contingent on the creation of a separate public company that contains WBD’s cable networks, by the third quarter of 2026. The deal is subject to WBD shareholder approval and regulatory clearances in multiple jurisdictions, with Netflix anticipating a closing in the next 12-18 months.

The assumption of leverage is that it’s bad, but it still assigns a percent probability in which WBD shareholders would be equity holders, as well as the stand-alone networks company being highly levered (“WAM Shareholders”), given the mix of cash and equity paid by Netflix coupled with the required spinoff.

Netflix, for its part, argues that it is pro-consumer and pro-innovation in its policies, and has said it plans to collaborate with regulators around the world.

Trump’s Antitrust Signal on the Netflix–WBD Deal

On the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors, President Trump indicated that he would get involved in reviewing the Netflix–WBD combination and said it might not be good if combined market power became a problem. And while Trump was effusive in his praise of Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, the comments highlight the political dynamics around media consolidation — in no small part due to Trump’s deep connections across the entertainment and tech industries.

Regulatory Climate and Market Math for a Merger

Netflix is the world’s largest streamer, with more than 300 million subscribers, and Max ranks among the top services — it has about 128 million. A combination would bring together marquee franchises from WBD — including Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and The Sopranos — with Netflix’s global distribution machine, prompting close attention from the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (and regulators around the world).

Examination by the DOJ alone can take a year, as CNBC has reported. The enforcement environment is far tougher than in previous cycles, as evidenced by recent fights over big media and publishing deals. Hollywood labor groups, like the Writers Guild, have already voiced opposition, saying it could erode bargaining leverage and reduce buyers for content.

What Shareholders Must Weigh in Rival Studio Bids

WBD investors are now confronted with a classic trade-off: Paramount’s higher headline valuation and fuller asset coverage versus Netflix’s strategic scale and global footprint at the cost of more structural complexity. The polemical case has Paramount offering certainty and speed and Netflix saying the combination would bring growth, investment and consumer goodies that should trump concerns on concentration.

Content owners must also weigh the effect of each path on monetization. A Netflix tie-up could turbocharge distribution of WBD’s library, while a sale to Paramount-Skydance might permit tighter integration between film, TV and IP licensing without dividing up cable networks into a separate company.

What Happens Next in the Paramount and Netflix Fight

Anticipate a lot of jockeying: the boardroom discussions at WBD, potential matching or amended bids and shareholder solicitation drives by both suitors. The Department of Justice will be watching closely, and any official challenge could kick the ultimate answer into court.

For the moment, Paramount’s adversarial play is transforming a one-track process into an open competition with higher political and regulatory risk. Whether WBD goes for a higher price without the promise of Netflix’s scale or accepts that sweet, guaranteed embrace will shape the next age of streaming — and decide who owns some of entertainment’s most valuable franchises.