The real winners and losers in epic Hollywood battle for Warner Bros.

The real winners and losers in epic Hollywood battle for Warner Bros.

We all know that Paramount Skydance lastly gained the bidding conflict for Warner Bros. Discovery. But who was the real winner in this takeover tussle of the century? 

The epic, six-month tango between some of the largest gamers in media for the proprietor of the Warner Bros. studio, HBO Max streamer and TGB got here to a suitably beautiful end late Thursday – although common readers of this column in all probability weren’t too shocked.

Let’s start with Netflix and its co-CEO Ted Sarandos, the architect of the streaming big’s thwarted bid to snare WBD. Until just days in the past, he had remained the official frontrunner. Ted can best be described as each a winner and a loser.

Until just days in the past, Netflix boss Ted Sarandos had remained the official frontrunner. Getty Images

He’s a winner right here for the simple motive that he walked away, albeit after a lot of drama. That’s because Netflix didn’t have to do this deal. Shares of Netflix soared more than 10% after I posted on my X feed that Netflix was going to cave.

Deals like this aren’t how Netflix turned one among the greatest and most profitable media corporations ever created. It has grown organically. Yet Sarandos spent months cobbling together mountains of debt while inviting regulatory scrutiny. By dropping out, Sarandos can return to constructing his enterprise.

Now right here’s why Sarandos is a loser: He went there. Why this seasoned media mogul thought all this was deal for shareholders (he misplaced $200 billion in market worth during negotiations) – and why he thought he had a shot with the Trump antitrust cops in combining the No. 1 and No. 3 streamers – is still a thriller. 

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It’s also still unclear if the feds have fully dropped their early Section 2 Sherman Act monopoly inquiry into Netflix’s already highly effective measurement and its ability to squeeze customers.

Then there’s David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. He’s a clear winner. I’ve identified Zas for years, when he toiled by means of the infrastructure of NBCUniversal, then decamped as CEO of Discovery Inc.

He received his big break operating a bona fide media conglomerate in 2022 when AT&T spun out Warner Media and his mentor, the legendary John Malone, organized a new company combining it with Discovery and making Zas its CEO. He received off to a rocky start, taking warmth for price cuts because of all the debt concerned, and for not delivering on outcomes. 

WBD CEO David Zaslav flanked by Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters and Sarandos before Netflix bowed out. Warner Bros. Discovery

Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison now sits on top of one among the greatest media corporations in the world. Getty Images

But slowly, Zas started to rebuild what’s now Warner Bros. Discovery. In 2025, his company was poised for one thing big, however you wouldn’t comprehend it from its inventory value. Then magic occurred: first, an unsolicited bid by Paramount Skydance at $18 a share when his inventory was at round $12. 

Then he went to work dangling WBD in entrance of a who’s who of media and tech corporations He received loads of curiosity until there have been just two, Netflix and Paramount Skydance. Zas wished at the least $30 a share, and people laughed. Earlier this week, he received his quantity plus a buck as Paramount Skydance swooped in with a $31 a share, $80.5 billion provide. 

Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison is also a winner, and not just for pulling off the defining media deal of his era. He also displayed the knowledge to place one among the best media dealmakers in the enterprise, Gerry Cardinale, in cost of his pursuit of WBD.

Ellison is the son of tech billionaire Larry Ellison, who supplied monetary backing for the deal, so it’s tempting to jot down him off as a fortunate sperm child. I’m right here to let you know he’s good and insightful and is aware of what he doesn’t know. He began with a small indie movie producer, noticed the depressed values in media and snapped up Paramount, with its studio, low-ranked streamer and once-prominent CBS unit.

Now, Ellison sits on top of one among the greatest media corporations in the world. He snared what regarded like a white whale by playing the lengthy game: lawsuits difficult WBD’s preliminary resolution to promote to Netflix, hostile bids and loads of acrimony. Yes, there’s a lot of debt in this deal, and there shall be price slicing. But as I see it Ellison actually didn’t overpay at the end. 

People thought he would use his dad’s cash to win by throwing $34 a share at Zas however he stopped at $31. The motive: Gerry Cardinale, the best bidding-war banker in the enterprise. He also listened to his GC, Makan Delrahim, and pops and didn’t overpay. Cardinale & Co., noticed the regulatory shoals confronted by Netflix, and knew the investor sentiment had begun because of the Netflix funny-money guarantees with a cable spinoff.

Yes, there’s a lot of debt in this deal, and there shall be price slicing. But as I see it Ellison actually didn’t overpay at the end.  AFP by way of Getty Images

If Ellison is a winner, so is Cardinale, and the people he had round him.

Elsewhere, another winner is PSKY’s reliably good and accessible flack, Melissa Zuckerman; another loser: Netflix board member and partisan Democrat Susan Rice who irritated the White House with some dumb comments about Trump at the worst doable time.

But if those are the latest scores, indications are that the arduous half could also be what comes next, as this new media big, no matter it’s called, weighs painful price cuts and rejiggering to remain competitive. Stay tuned for the next crop of winners and losers.

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