In an unexpected move, Netflix declined to increase its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery on Thursday after the latter company called Paramount Skydance’s revised bid “superior.”
Netflix decided against taking advantage of a four-day period to match its rival bidder. The extraordinary development ultimately lets Paramount take the win in the prolonged bidding war.
About two hours earlier, the WBD Board of Directors determined Paramount’s latest offer constitutes a “company superior proposal” but left the door open for Netflix to match. Paramount offered an all-cash bid worth $31 per share. Netflix decided raising its bid wasn’t worth it.
“The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a statement. “However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid.”
“Warner Bros. is a world-class organization, and we want to thank David Zaslav, Gunnar Wiedenfels, Bruce Campbell, Brad Singer and the WBD Board for running a fair and rigorous process,” they added. “We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.’ iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the U.S. But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”
In a Thursday press release, WBD said it notified Netflix of its determination and that the board still recommended its deal with Netflix.
But in the event “the PSKY proposal continues to constitute a ‘Company Superior Proposal,’” the board said, “WBD would be entitled to terminate the Netflix merger agreement.” WBD is no longer required to make that decision now.
Also on Thursday, Sarandos lobbied federal officials in a visit to the White House. The executive was reportedly set to meet with Attorney General Pam Bondi, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, and Justice Department Antitrust Division officials.
The department is reviewing both rival bids while investigating whether Netflix’s stand-alone business constitutes a monopoly. Sarandos has denied the existence of a monopolization investigation.
His visit came two days after Paramount CEO David Ellison attended the State of the Union address based on an invitation from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
It is unclear whether Sarandos met with President Donald Trump on Thursday to discuss the merger, although he had done so in late November 2025 before the deal was announced.
Last weekend, Trump pressured Netflix to fire former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice from its board over comments she made about punishing companies that kowtow to Trump. If she was not removed from the board, Trump vowed that the streaming service would “pay the consequences.”
Sarandos brushed off the president’s criticism and the possibility of federal intervention in the merger.
“This is a business deal,” he told the BBC this week. “It’s not a political deal. This deal is run by the Department of Justice in the U.S. and regulators throughout Europe and around the world.”
Netflix is facing much public scrutiny for its ties to the Democratic Party, whether that be Rice’s board membership or the company’s yearslong production deal with the Obamas.
Sarandos and his wife, Nicole Avant, have associated themselves with the presidential couple by donating nearly $700,000 to then-President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. The chief executive has also given money to Democratic candidates as recently as 2022, according to a review of public records.
NETFLIX CEO TO VISIT WHITE HOUSE AFTER TRUMP DEMANDED TERMINATION OF BOARD MEMBER
During an antitrust hearing earlier this month, Netflix’s affiliation with Democrats was brought up in several lines of questioning from Republican senators as they questioned the merger.
WBD was preparing to hold a March 20 meeting for shareholders to vote on the studio’s merger agreement with Netflix. It now appears shareholders will not be able to vote in favor of Netflix. Paramount actively campaigned for shareholder votes.
