Paramount’s hostile bid for WBD assets may set stage for showdown

Paramount Skydance has launched a hostile bid to acquire the streaming and studios assets of Warner Bros. Discovery after Netflix emerged as the winner of a bidding war for the division, which includes the Warner Bros. film studio and library, HBO and HBO Max.

Paramount is offering $30 a share, valuing it at around $108.4 billion, compared to Netflix’s deal that calls for it to pay $27.75 per share, which would be about $83 billion. 

The bid sets the stage for a potentially contentious battle over the lucrative WBD assets and could extend into the political sphere as well. Any deal would require both shareholder and regulatory approval.

Donald Trump has already questioned if the Netflix-WBD buy might need to be scrutinized by officials, the latest in a series of mixed signals about such deals, including recent comments about Nexstar’s acquisition of Tegna. 

Axios has reported that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is backing the Paramount bid through his private equity firm Affinity Partners. 

The implications of such a potential standoff are hard to ignore. 

Trump’s administration already played what some saw as a heavy hand in getting Skydance Media’s purchase of Paramount through earlier in 2025.

The merger had been stalled because transferring Paramount’s broadcast licenses required FCC approval. Meanwhile, Trump had been suing CBS News, which is part of Paramount, for “news distortion” after it aired two versions of an interview with then-Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris in October 2025 that Trump said damaged his political reputation.

Advertisement

After a period of uncertainty, CBS agreed to settle the lawsuit and shortly after, the license transfers were OK’d and the sale was completed.

Skydance was founded by David Ellison, the son of billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who also took over as CEO of the new Paramount. Larry Ellison is a prominent Trump supporter and has strong connections to Skydance as well.

Now, it appears Trump’s administration could hold the power to effectively block Netflix’s WBD acquisition while giving approval to the Kushner-backed deal, though there have been no solid indications of how it all might play out.

Proponents of the Paramount bid are likely to argue that it delivers better value to shareholders given its higher offer.

Both a Netflix and Paramount buy of the WBD assets could also have a mix of pros and cons in terms of operational efficiencies and continued shareholder returns.

When Paramount announced its offer for WBD’s studios and streaming assets, it did not mention Affinity’s involvement in the deal, which also includes backing from sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.

This story has been updated throughout to reflect new developments.