Paramount Skydance, the media powerhouse formed earlier this year through a merger led by David Ellison, is weighing a significant escalation in its hostile takeover pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).
Sources tell the New York Post the company could raise its all-cash offer from $30 per share to as high as $33 per share—representing a roughly 10% increase—for the owner of Warner Bros. studios, HBO, CNN, and other assets. Valued at nearly $86 billion, the sweetened bid would dwarf Netflix's recently inked merger agreement and comfortably offset WBD's $2.8 billion breakup fee, equivalent to about $1 per share, if the board walks away from the streaming giant.
This potential hike comes just days after Paramount Skydance launched a formal $108.4 billion hostile tender offer, going directly to WBD shareholders to bypass a board that had already endorsed Netflix's $82.7 billion deal for the company's studios and streaming division. The Netflix pact values those assets at $27.75 per share in a mix of cash and stock but excludes WBD's cable networks like CNN and TNT, which would spin off as "Discovery Global." Paramount's full-company bid, backed by Ellison's billionaire father Larry, aims to create a vertically integrated rival to Netflix, combining Warner's film library and HBO Max with Paramount's broadcast and cable holdings.
The move intensifies a high-stakes bidding war that has gripped Hollywood, with political undertones amplifying the drama. President Donald Trump, a vocal critic of the Netflix deal, warned over the weekend it could "be a problem" due to antitrust risks, as the combined entity would control 43% of global streaming subscribers.
Larry Ellison reportedly lobbied Trump directly against the merger, while Paramount's financing includes ties to Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners and Middle Eastern sovereign funds like Saudi Arabia's PIF and Qatar's QIA—drawing bipartisan fire from lawmakers like Sen. Elizabeth Warren over national security and monopoly concerns.