When All Else Fails: The Ellison's Attempted Acquisition of Warner Bros.

Ellison outside the New York Stock Exchange on December 7th (Michael Nagle for Getty)

When All Else Fails: The Ellison’s Attempted Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery

Over the past 4 months, Warner Bros. Discovery has been in the midst of a rival bidding war between Netflix, Paramount Skydance, and Comcast. Larry Ellison and his son, David, the CEO of Paramount Skydance, seek to acquire Warner Bros. to incorporate it into their larger media empire.

Paramount’s initial bid was around $40 billion, the structure being entirely cash-based. This offer, though the largest bid, was rejected by Warner Bros.’ board because of unreliable financing and the Ellisons’ inability to show a full financial backing behind Paramount. In December 2025, Paramount updated its initial bid and guaranteed a large personal equity guarantee from Larry Ellison, approximately $40 billion. Paramount has also given the opportunity to Warner Bros. shareholders to sell their shares directly to Paramount. Despite Ellison's moves, including putting their wealth on the line, the Warner Bros. board has continued to favor an alternative deal.

Netflix has been the main bidding rival to the Ellison-backed Paramount offer. Netflix originally agreed to acquire certain assets of Warner Bros. for a valuation of around $82.7 billion. To counter Paramount’s pressure, Netflix also switched to an all-cash deal, making the deal more tenable to Warner’s shareholders. Warner Bros.’ board endorsed the Netflix deal as more solid and less risky than Paramount’s gamble, making it considerably more difficult for the Ellisons to prevail.

As of early 2026, Netflix was still the leading contender, having won the backing of the Warner Bros. board. Paramount Skydance, under David Ellison’s leadership, continued to push its offer directly to shareholders as an alternative to their original bid. The final outcome of this acquisition depended on how many Warner Bros. shareholders tender their shares under the hostile offer and whether any legal or regulatory repercussions emerged.

The most recent announcement on February 24th was that Paramount Skydance would up its original offer to $111 billion, which is about $30 a share. Warner Bros. Discovery stated that “there can be no assurance that the board will conclude that the transaction proposed by PSKY [Paramount Skydance]” is “superior” to the Netflix deal. The Netflix Merger Agreement was still in effect and supported heavily by the Warner Bros. board, but on February 26th, Netflix declined to raise the bid, calling the required price “no longer financially attractive.”

The favored bidder is Paramount Skydance; however, shareholder approval is still necessary before the acquisition can take place. The deal should close somewhere in Q3 of 2026 if no legal or regulatory concerns emerge.

The Ellisons, now having secured an ever-expanding media empire that seeks to acquire more and more legacy media companies, are coming to resemble the Roy family from Succession. Succession depicts a family with a large media empire that dominates American news, acquiring large legacy media operations. Ironically, Succession is an IP of HBO max, which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It seems that the future of Hollywood and media-at-large lies within a world where large conglomerates—Disney, Comcast, Paramount Skydance, and Netflix—consolidate smaller media companies to form large streaming platforms and recycle previously successful IP’s.