David Ellison Throws MASSIVE Wrench Into Netflix’s Victory Lap With WBD (A Bit Hostile, Much?)

“Gator don’t play no sh*t” - Larry Ellison looking at himself in the mirror yesterday morning… 

(Source: Tenor) 

Run it back, my friends… because if you thought the Paramount-Skydance deal was an absolute clown circus, let me introduce you to its little friend: Netflix vs. Paramount. 

In short, after Netflix won the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery last week… at a $72B valuation I might add… Paramount Skydance is now out here launching a full-blown hostile offer at $30/share, valuing WBD at $108.4B. Same price they initially got ignored at…  but louder lol. The interesting part is that Paramount isn’t even pretending this is strategic anymore. They’re just going straight to shareholders with a stack of cash and a threat to ‘finish what we started”. 

(Source: CNBC) 

However, Paramounts also throwing in all the cable assets of WBD that Netflix could give tw f*cks about. We’re talking CNN, TNT Sports, a.k.a., the entire linear graveyard. Netflix couldn’t even be bothered to look at them. Paramount, meanwhile, is assigning them a $1/share value just to get WBD to swoon the other way. With that said though, here’s where the waters get muddy a bit: Netflix owes WBD $5.8B if the deal dies. WBD owes Netflix $2.8B if it bails.

Meaning, there’s an entire legal minefield sitting between these giants and whatever version of successful acquisition they think they’re going to achieve. Add in the fact that there’s a good chance regulators may throw some type of wrench into the play to begin with and suddenly… you can’t help but wonder how many favors David Ellison and his Daddy saved up with Donny Politics over the years. 

(Source: Giphy) 

As for the market, well it was pretty much the opposite of what happened last week: Paramount popped 7% while Netflix dipped -3%. All while WBD floated up 4% as the only honest women in town. So with that, where does this go? 

Thankfully, our very own crystal ball in 2025 (read: prediction markets) are now giving Paramount about a 40% chance of stealing WBD out from under Netflix. That number was 10% a few days ago, which tells you everything about how mind numbing this all is. But here’s the real tell: Paramount texted Zaslav that $30/share wasn't even the best and final. And WBD just… didn’t respond.

“Soooo you’re telling me there’s a chance?” 

(Source: Giphy) 

That’s what it’s looking like. Meaning, somebody is going to be furious in January. Somebody’s going to pretend they’re happy. And somebody is going to have to explain why they spent $100B+ on a company that still has a hand in airing “The View” lmao. Fun times. For now, place your bets accordingly, friends. We shall see how this all unfolds. Until next time… 

At the time of publishing, Stocks.News holds positions in Netflix as mentioned in the article.