The most vexing obstacle for David Ellison and Paramount’s planned acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery looks to be David Zaslav – though probably not for long.
As of now, Zaslav is moving ahead with a somewhat-still-fuzzy plan unveiled this past summer to split Wbd in half by next spring to free the studio and streaming of several billion in debt and freefalling cable assets. At the same time, word on the Burbank streets is that Netflix or Amazon could be looking to add some DC or GoT to their balance sheets.
“David’s a dealmaker, that’s who he is,” a streaming exec asserts, putting emphasis on enhanced shareholder value as Zaslav’s endgame. “He’s always gauging the possibilities and getting the best value, and that is what I think he is doing here. Whether it works or not, who can say right now?”
Zaslav has reportedly engaged Goldman Sachs…