\n The future of Hollywood depends in part on a battle between two Davids: Zaslav, who has agreed to sell Warner Bros. and HBO to Netflix; and Ellison, who has opposed the sale and launched a hostile takeover bid.\n <\/p>\n
\n Now both men are plotting their next steps, while their allies engage in corporate trash talk, hoping to influence the eventual outcome of a once-in-a-generation movie studio sale.\n <\/p>\n
\n Here\u2019s a sense of how heated it\u2019s getting: A person on Zaslav\u2019s side likened Ellison\u2019s recent behavior to a \u201ctemper tantrum.\u201d A person on Ellison\u2019s side said Zaslav and Netflix don\u2019t know what\u2019s hit them yet.\n <\/p>\n
\n Still, despite all the bravado, the feud could end as abruptly as it began \u2014 if the price is right.\n <\/p>\n
\n Media analysts expect Paramount will \u201csweeten,\u201d or raise, its bid for Warner in the coming days, putting even more pressure on Zaslav and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.\n <\/p>\n
\n Ellison, 42, is the protagonist in this story, applying screenwriting lingo to a real-life Hollywood drama. He has been moving fast as the new CEO of Paramount Skydance, a role he claimed after merging his much smaller production company, Skydance, with the storied Paramount earlier this year.\n <\/p>\n
\n Some of the media veterans who\u2019ve clashed with Ellison this year have dubbed him arrogant \u2014 while his defenders say he is rightly confident.\n <\/p>\n
\n He met with Zaslav, 65, at Zaslav\u2019s Beverly Hills home on Sept. 14 and offered $19 per share for all of Warner Bros. Discovery, which had been trading around $12 before talk of a Paramount offer surfaced.\n <\/p>\n
\n One week later, Zaslav responded in a letter, saying thanks but no thanks, indicating that Warner Bros. Discovery (or WBD for short) would continue to pursue its plan to split into two separately traded halves.\n <\/p>\n
\n Through the split, CNN and other channels would become part of Discovery Global, while the Warner Bros. studio, HBO Max streaming service and other assets would become known as Warner Bros.\n <\/p>\n
\n Everyone involved knew that Paramount would knock on WBD\u2019s door again. That next knock came on Sept. 30, with a $22-per-share offer, and a proposal that Zaslav could serve as co-CEO and co-chairman of the board of directors for the combined company.\n <\/p>\n
\n This was, at least in part, a play to Zaslav\u2019s ego, as Ellison perceived that the WBD CEO was reluctant to give up his media mogul perch.\n <\/p>\n
\n The age gap between the two men is impossible to ignore, since for Zaslav, Ellison is at a \u201cyou could be my son\u201d age.\n <\/p>\n
Power, politics and pressure<\/p>\n
\n Ellison\u2019s real dad, Larry, 81, is the largest shareholder in Paramount, and he has been intimately involved since his Oracle fortune has helped bankroll his family\u2019s media industry expansion.\n <\/p>\n
\n Larry Ellison\u2019s close relationship with President Trump<\/a> has also been cited as a critical advantage in any regulatory review processes.\n <\/p>\n \n However, during the secret bidding process, Paramount\u2019s posturing about its mutually beneficial relationship with the Trump administration rubbed some people the wrong way, according to a person involved in the talks.\n <\/p>\n \n By early October, it was apparent to Paramount\u2019s board that WBD was slow-walking the process. A timeline released by Paramount to support its hostile takeover bid shows that WBD ignored its suitors\u2019 requests to respond expeditiously to improved bids.\n <\/p>\n \n There were a total of six proposals over 12 weeks, according to Paramount\u2019s SEC filing.\n <\/p>\n \n More bankers and lawyers got involved after WBD formally put itself up for sale in mid-October, prompting interest from Netflix and Comcast in the Warner Bros and HBO assets. Paramount remained the only bidder seeking to buy all of WBD, including CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n Perhaps playing hard-to-get in an effort to win a greater valuation, Zaslav remained rather distant, at least from Paramount\u2019s perspective.\n <\/p>\n \n When Zaslav received an award at the Simon Wiesenthal Center\u2019s Humanitarian Award Dinner on Oct. 31, Ellison was there. But the two men \u201cdid not break bread nor gab,\u201d Deadline reporter Dominic Patten wrote afterward. Though \u201cseparated by just a few tables, the two Davids seemed more set on ignoring each other.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Sarandos, on the other hand, was talking to everyone, and Zaslav gave him a shoutout from the stage, saying the Netflix boss is \u201cone of the good guys.\u201d Ellison\u2019s presence went unrecognized.\n <\/p>\n \n By mid-November, Paramount had moved up to $25.50 per share. Zaslav and both David and Larry Ellison met face to face on Nov. 24 for dinner and discussed Paramount\u2019s quest to achieve real scale in the media marketplace, as well as Zaslav\u2019s potential role in the company, according to Paramount\u2019s account.\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s unclear exactly when Ellison came to the conclusion that WBD was favoring Netflix. But things came to a head last week when WBD asked for second-round bids from all the players involved.\n <\/p>\n \n Paramount went up to $26.50 per share and said in a revised proposal, \u201cIt is our sincere intention to embrace a \u2018best-of-both\u2019 approach to the combined company\u2019s talent.\u201d Lawyers representing Paramount also composed a lengthy letter assailing Netflix and Comcast\u2019s offers.\n <\/p>\n \n Two days later, on Dec. 3, Zaslav spoke with Ellison by phone and shared the WBD board\u2019s concerns about Paramount\u2019s latest bid. Zaslav said he was calling the other bidders, as well.\n <\/p>\n \n This is arguably when the auction began to turn hostile. Paramount lawyers wrote a letter ostensibly to the WBD board, which was seemingly also meant for the outside world to read. Dated Dec. 3, it said that WBD \u201cappears to have abandoned the semblance and reality of a fair transaction process, thereby abdicating its duties to stockholders,\u201d by favoring Netflix.\n <\/p>\n \n The letter also took aim at Zaslav directly \u2014 but Ellison tried to stay in direct communication, texting the other David on the morning of Dec. 4, saying, \u201cI heard you on all your concerns and believe we have addressed them in our new proposal.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n That final bid was for $30 per share, according to Paramount. But the WBD board went with Netflix\u2019s $27.75-per-share offer instead, in part because Netflix did not include the Discovery Global assets, which would be valued separately.\n <\/p>\n \n Sensing that WBD might be close to a signed deal with Netflix, Ellison texted Zaslav later on Dec. 4, noting that \u201cwe did not include \u2018best and final\u2019 in our bid,\u201d meaning Paramount was still willing to offer a higher price.\n <\/p>\n \n Paramount\u2019s legal letters were evidently the \u201cnoise\u201d that Ellison referenced in his text. \u201cPlease know despite the noise of the last 24 hours,\u201d he wrote, \u201cI have nothing but respect and admiration for you and the company. It would be the honor of a lifetime to be your partner and to be the owner of these iconic assets.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Paramount says Zaslav did not respond. Hours later, on Friday morning, Netflix announced a deal<\/a> to acquire WBD\u2019s studio and streaming assets.\n <\/p>\n