Paramount-Skydance has emerged as the winner in a multi-round battle for the future of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Netflix backed out — and stands to pocket $2.8 billion in breakup fees — after the Larry and David Ellison-run company made a higher bid.
Here’s what smart people in business and politics are saying about the deal.
Ross Gerber
The cofounder of wealth management firm Gerber Kawasaki, which manages $4 billion, joked about the economics of the deal on X. WBD owes Netflix nearly $3 billion in a breakup fee.
“Haha. They paid $110 billion. Netflix gets $2.8 billion. Zaslov laughing to the bank. Welcome to Hollywood kid,” Gerber said of WBD CEO David Zaslav.
On Monday, Gerber posted that Paramount could “way overpay” for WBD, allowing Netflix to “walk away with Billions and a huge win saddling paramount with losses forever.”
Paul Nary
The Wharton School assistant professor, who researches mergers and acquisitions, wrote in an X post that the deal gave Netflix a way out.
“What is surprising to me is the speed with which Netflix had pulled out, and I respect their choice not to pretend they’re still in it and prolong the game,” Nary wrote.
“If WBD had indications of Netflix losing their faith in the deal, the change in their tone towards Paramount, dialing back their expectations for the headline price – all of these make sense now,” Nary added.
Elizabeth Warren
The Democratic senator opposed last year’s Paramount-Skydance merger and has scrutinized the latest company deal.
In a statement, Warren raised questions about the White House’s alignment with Paramount Skydance.
Trump said earlier this month that he was staying out of the battle for WBD — and that both bidders had called him. He said the deal would go to the Department of Justice.
“A Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. merger is an antitrust disaster threatening higher prices and fewer choices for American families,” Warren said.
She added, “A handful of Trump-aligned billionaires are trying to seize control of what you watch and charge you whatever price they want.”
The lawmaker said, “It’ll be up to the American people to speak up and state attorneys general to enforce the law.”
On Thursday, California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, said in a statement that the transaction was “not a done deal.”
“The California Department of Justice has an open investigation, and we intend to be vigorous in our review,” he said.
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