[UPDATE - February 27, 2026] Netflix has officially walked away from the bidding war, with Paramount Skydance's $111 billion offer for Warner Bros. Discovery now set to proceed. Find our full breakdown here.
[ORIGINAL STORY] Last week ended with a bombshell report for the entertainment industry, with Netflix submitting a bid to purchase Warner Bros Discovery Streaming and Studios, which includes HBO Max, HBO, and all of the film, television, and game development studios under Warner Bros for a whopping $82.7 billion. Now, Paramount Skydance has upped the ante with its own bid of $108.4 billion to try and steal the acquisition out from under Netflix's nose.
Of course, whether it'll be successful or not is a different story, but there are a few key differences between Paramount's offer and what Netflix had offered that make the whole ordeal quite interesting. One notable aspect is that, unlike Netflix, which just wants to acquire the Streaming and Studios branch of Warner Bros, Paramount wants the whole kit and caboodle.
Which is to say that Paramount would look to entirely acquire Warner Bros, including the Global Linear Networks branch as well as the Streaming and Studios branch. Paramount is also offering an all-cash deal, paying $30 per share instead of Netflix's offer to pay $27.5 per share. This is also a hostile takeover attempt from Paramount, which is why the company is taking it "directly to shareholders," as Ellison says, compared to Netflix's bid, which Warner Bros Discovery is already aligned with.
Paramount's press release even adds that it submitted six different proposals to Warner Bros Discovery over the course of 12 weeks, each of them privately rejected by Warner Bros executives, going so far as to say that Warner Bros "never engaged meaningfully" with Paramount's six attempts. Paramount is very clearly trying to win over shareholders, framing its proposal as the "clearly superior" one shareholders would not have seen if Paramount had not gone public with it.
"WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company," said David Ellison, chief executive officer and chairman of Paramount, in a press release.
"Our public offer, which is on the same terms we provided to the Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors in private, provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion. We believe the WBD Board of Directors is pursuing an inferior proposal which exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business and a challenging regulatory approval process. We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interests and maximize the value of their shares."
Not only does Paramount believe its offer to be the better one compared to Netflix's, it believes that Paramount acquiring Warner Bros Discovery has a better chance of getting approved than Netflix acquiring Warner Bros Discovery.
"Paramount is highly confident in achieving expeditious regulatory clearance for its proposed offer, as it enhances competition and is pro-consumer, while creating a strong champion for creative talent and consumer choice," the press release reads. "In contrast, the Netflix transaction is predicated on the unrealistic assumption that its anticompetitive combination with WBD, which would entrench its monopoly with a 43% share of global Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) subscribers, could withstand multiple protracted regulatory challenges across the world. In many European Union countries the Netflix transaction would combine the dominant SVOD player with the number two or strong number three competitor. The Netflix transaction creates a clear risk of higher prices for consumers, lower pay for content creators and talent and the destruction of American and international theatrical exhibitors. Netflix has never undertaken large-scale acquisitions, resulting in increased execution risk which WBD shareholders would have to endure."
Ellison added that he and Paramount believe allowing Paramount to acquire Warner Bros Discovery would lead to "a stronger Hollywood," and that Paramount acquiring WBD, not Netflix, "is in the best interest of the creative community, consumers and the movie theatre industry."
It is a proper bidding war now, with both Netflix and Paramount in the ring with such incredibly high bids. Either acquisition, if accepted, would set a new record for the largest acquisition in history. Either one will also entirely change the entertainment landscape, should they go through.
It'll be a long time before that happens, though, as there will be a drawn-out regulatory process before either acquisition makes it over the line. Either way, the 2020s have been a massive time of change for Warner Bros, after its split in 2021, the restructuring of its video game business, and now the coming conclusion of this acquisition process, whether it ends up under Paramount or Netflix.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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