Paramount Skydance has launched a surprise $108.4 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, upending Netflix’s recently announced $72 billion merger agreement and setting the stage for one of Hollywood’s fiercest corporate battles in decades.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
In a statement Monday, Paramount said it would bypass Warner Bros. Discovery’s board and appeal directly to shareholders with a $30-per-share all-cash offer, urging them to reject the Netflix acquisition deal announced just last week. The proposal covers all of Warner Bros. Discovery’s assets, including its global television networks, film studios, and streaming operations.
Paramount’s bid is identical in structure to a previous offer Warner Bros. rejected earlier this month in favor of Netflix’s proposal. However, by going directly to shareholders, Paramount has escalated the contest into a full-blown hostile takeover attempt.
The studio behind Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible accused Warner Bros. of making a strategic error in siding with Netflix, warning that the streaming giant’s offer “exposes WBD shareholders to a protracted multi-jurisdictional regulatory clearance process with an uncertain outcome, along with a complex and volatile mix of equity and cash.”
Paramount said it had submitted six separate proposals over a 12-week period before resorting to a hostile bid.
“We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood,” Paramount Chairman and CEO David Ellison said in a statement. “It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers, and the movie theater industry. We believe they will benefit from enhanced competition, higher content spend, and a greater number of theatrical releases as a result of our proposed transaction.”
Netflix’s $82.7 billion cash-and-stock deal—valued at $27.75 per Warner share, including debt—was expected to close within 12 to 18 months, pending regulatory approval and Warner’s planned spinoff of its cable properties. That deal excluded news and factual networks such as CNN and Discovery, which Warner Bros. intends to retain.
Paramount’s move marks a dramatic escalation in the race to dominate the global entertainment market, as Hollywood’s legacy studios face mounting competition from streaming giants and artificial intelligence-driven production technology.
President Donald Trump weighed in Sunday, warning that the Netflix-Warner merger “could be a problem” because of its potential impact on competition and market concentration. “The size of the combined company could raise serious antitrust concerns,” Trump said.
The bidding war pits two contrasting visions for Hollywood’s future: Netflix’s digital-first model built on streaming dominance versus Paramount’s hybrid approach combining theatrical releases, traditional networks, and digital platforms under a single vertically integrated media empire.
With both deals facing regulatory scrutiny and global market implications, analysts say Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders now hold the power to decide which company—and which vision—will define the next era of American entertainment.
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