In November, Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-CEO made a visit to the White Home for a prolonged assembly with Donald Trump. In line with Bloomberg, the 2 mentioned quite a few subjects, however chief amongst them was Netflix’s plan to bid on Warner Bros. On the finish of their dialog, Sardonos felt that “Netflix wouldn’t face instant opposition from the White Home.”
This week, Netflix efficiently received the bidding conflict for Warner, providing $82.7 billion. It’s well-known that Paramount and its CEO David Ellison had been keen to accumulate the storied studio and its streaming property. Ellison and his father, Larry Ellison, have shut ties to the White Home, and as a part of their pitch to Warner, advised that solely they had been ready to beat the regulatory hurdles of additional media consolidation.
Sarandos appears to have rightly believed that the Ellisons overestimated their political clout. And regardless of some public efforts to show the White Home in opposition to the deal, Netflix received out, for now. There may be after all, nonetheless an opportunity that Paramount might launch a hostile takeover effort, or that the Justice Division might attempt to scuttle the deal — nothing is assured but.
Sarandos tried to accumulate Paramount earlier than David Ellison swooped in, so snatching Warner Bros. out from below his nostril is probably going one thing of a private victory.