Netflix Backs Out of Bid for Warner Bros., Paving Way for Paramount Takeover

The New York Times:

Netflix said on Thursday that it had backed away from its deal to
acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, a stunning development that paves
the way for the storied Hollywood media giant to end up under the
control of a rival bidder, the technology heir David Ellison.

Netflix said that it would not raise its offer to counter a higher
bid made earlier this week by Mr. Ellison’s company, Paramount
Skydance, adding in a statement that “the deal is no longer
financially attractive.”

“This transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price,
not a ‘must have’ at any price,” the Netflix co-chief executives,
Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, said in a statement.

Netflix’s stock is up 9 percent in after-hours trading. This is like when you have a friend (Netflix) dating a good-looking-but-crazy person (Warner Bros.), and the good-looking-but-crazy person does something to give your friend second thoughts. You tell your friend to run away.

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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/business/warner-bros-discovery-paramount-deal-netflix.html?unlocked_article_code=1.PVA.3639.2yWKES49z8Os