Catenaa, Friday, February 27, 2026- Paramount Skydance finally clinched its deal of $111 billion for Warner Bros. Discovery, outmaneuvering its rival Netflix after a months-long battle.
The victory for Paramount Chief Executive Officer David Ellison was hard won, requiring multiple bids over more than five months, visits to Washington, meetings with shareholders and President Donald Trump, and the personal backing of his billionaire father, Larry Ellison.
Netflix bowed out of its $82.7 billion offer for Warner Bros.’ studio and streaming business on Thursday after the board declared a recent Hail Mary bid from Paramount for the whole company was superior.
The dramatic eleventh-hour turnaround gives the Ellison family control of one of the most powerful media empires in the world, uniting two Hollywood studios behind legendary films from and to two major news networks in CNN and CBS; the streaming powerhouse HBO, and dozens of cable networks.
“Once our board votes to adopt the Paramount merger agreement, it will create tremendous value for our shareholders,” Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav said in a statement. “We are excited about the potential of a combined Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery and can’t wait to get started working together telling the stories that move the world.”
Paramount slipped in one more offer and suggested it would be open to raising its price by $1 a share and agreed to pay the $2.8 billion termination fee Warner Bros. would be required to pay Netflix for bowing out, as well as other sweeteners.
Netflix, which had clinched a deal with Warner Bros. in December for $27.75 a share for most of the company except the cable business, granted a waiver for Warner Bros.’ board to open talks with Paramount for seven days.
Negotiating down to the wire, Warner Bros. in the end determined that Paramount’s offer was indeed superior.
Despite the news, Netflix shares rose by over 8% on Friday, while Paramount rose by over 11%.
