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Warner Bros Discovery’s board has unanimously rejected Paramount Skydance’s $108.4 billion takeover bid, calling it a risky, debt-heavy deal that could burden the company and hurt investors.
Some background: On December 5, 2025, Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery announced a final deal under which Netflix would buy Warner Bros, including its film and TV studios, HBO, and HBO Max.
After this, Paramount launched its hostile take-over bid worth $108 billion, compared with Netflix’s $82.7 billion bid, sending shockwaves across the industry and raising antitrust alarms.
Reason for rejection: despite major backing from investors like the Ellison family and large banks, Warner Bros said Paramount’s takeover would still burden the company with about $87 billion in debt, making it too risky.
The board therefore rejected Paramount’s $30-per-share cash offer, saying it offered low value and carried uncertainty over whether the deal would be completed, putting shareholders at risk.
The hype: Paramount and Netflix were competing to buy Warner Bros, which owns top film and TV studios and a vast content library, including major franchises like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Friends, the DC universe, and classic films such as Casablanca and Citizen Kane.
