Los Angeles – December 8, 2025 – In one of the most audacious moves in modern Hollywood history, Paramount Skydance has gone hostile with an all-cash tender offer to buy the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery for $30 per share, a deal that values the company at $108.4 billion enterprise value.
The surprise announcement, made Monday morning, directly challenges the agreement Warner Bros. Discovery reached just last week to sell its film studio and HBO Max streaming service to Netflix for $27.25 per share (approximately $82.7 billion total). Paramount’s bid is for the whole company, including the valuable cable networks CNN, TBS, TNT, Discovery Channel, and Food Network, that Netflix had planned to spin off.
Paramount CEO David Ellison described the Netflix transaction as “inferior and uncertain,” emphasizing that his offer delivers immediate, risk-free cash to shareholders and avoids the lengthy, multi-country regulatory marathon that a Netflix merger would almost certainly trigger.
“WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for the entire company,” Ellison said. “We believe this transaction will create a stronger Hollywood. It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers, and the movie-theater industry.”
The $30-per-share bid carries a 139% premium to Warner Bros. Discovery’s undisturbed closing price of $12.54 on September 10, the day before sale rumors first surfaced. Paramount has already secured full financing: more than $40 billion in committed equity from Larry Ellison, RedBird Capital, and several Middle Eastern sovereign funds, plus tens of billions in debt commitments from major banks. Notably, Chinese tech giant Tencent, which had previously been part of the funding group, has been removed from the consortium to eliminate potential national-security objections.
Market reaction was immediate and sharp. Warner Bros. Discovery shares jumped more than 6% in early trading, Paramount rose over 3%, and Netflix dropped more than 3% as investors reassessed the likelihood of its deal closing.
The Netflix agreement, announced only days ago after a months-long auction process, had been hailed by Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos as “transformative.” It would have handed Netflix permanent control of HBO’s prestige pipeline, the DC Comics universe, and blockbuster franchises such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, and Warner’s century-old film library. In exchange, Warner Bros. Discovery planned to spin its linear cable networks into a separate public company and use the proceeds to pay down its roughly $40 billion debt load.
Paramount argues that shareholders are being short-changed by that structure. The company claims the cable-network spinoff is being dramatically overvalued in the Netflix deal, inflating the headline price while leaving investors exposed to a highly leveraged “remainder” company and volatile Netflix stock.
Ellison has positioned Paramount as the defender of theatrical exhibition, pledging to release more than 30 wide theatrical films per year with exclusive cinema windows, far exceeding the output of either Warner or Netflix in recent years. Industry insiders note that such a commitment could ease antitrust concerns in the U.S., where regulators and theater owners have grown increasingly worried about the dominance of pure-play streamers.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s board, led by CEO David Zaslav, issued a brief statement saying it would “carefully review” Paramount’s unsolicited offer and make a formal recommendation to shareholders within the required 10-business-day window. The company continues to stand behind the Netflix transaction for now, but the massive cash premium and the threat of shareholder lawsuits for rejecting a richer bid have put enormous pressure on the board.
If Paramount ultimately prevails, Warner Bros. Discovery would owe Netflix an estimated $2.8 billion breakup fee. Conversely, if the board rejects the higher offer without a compelling justification, activist investors and class-action attorneys are already circling.
The battle now shifts to a high-stakes campaign for shareholder hearts and minds. Paramount has launched a dedicated website and is expected to embark on an aggressive roadshow, while Netflix and Warner management will defend their original vision of a streaming-centric future.
Whichever side wins, the outcome will reshape the entertainment landscape for decades, determining whether Hollywood’s next chapter is written primarily for cinema screens or smartphone screens.
For now, one thing is certain: the drama unfolding on Wall Street is bigger than anything currently playing at the multiplex.
