Paramount Skydance Counters Netflix With $108.4 Billion Hostile Bid for All of Warner Bros. Discovery

Paramount Skydance launched a hostile, all‑cash $108.4 billion offer for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery, arriving three days after WBD accepted an approximately $83 billion asset sale to Netflix. The competing proposals diverge in scope, with Netflix targeting Warner Bros. studios and HBO Max while Paramount seeks the whole company, including television networks such as CNN and Discovery. The Wall Street Journal reports Paramount’s bid is backed by three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and Affinity Partners, as CEO David Ellison argues his offer has a clearer path with regulators than Netflix’s. President Trump publicly questioned the Netflix–WBD deal and said he would be involved in regulators’ decision, signaling direct political attention on any transaction. Extended antitrust scrutiny is anticipated over 12 to 18 months, with exhibitors and some lawmakers warning about effects on theaters and prices as Netflix maintains it would preserve theatrical releases but shorten exclusive windows.