43-year-old tech scion <\/a>and aircraft pilot already had his sights set on Warner Bros. Discovery. <\/p>\nParamount\u2019s assets, including MTV, Nickelodeon and the Melrose Avenue movie studio, have been fading. Ellison recognized he needed the more robust company \u2014 Warner Bros. Discovery \u2014 to achieve his ambitions.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the very beginning, our pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery has been guided by a clear purpose: to honor the legacy of two iconic companies while accelerating our vision of building a next-generation media and entertainment company,\u201d David Ellison said in a Friday statement. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t be more excited for what\u2019s ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Warner\u2019s chief, Zaslav, who had initially opposed the Paramount bid, added: \u201cWe look forward to working with Paramount to complete this historic transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Netflix, in a separate statement, said it was unwilling to go beyond its $82.7-billion proposal that Warner board members accepted Dec. 4. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.\u2019 iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs,\u201d Sarandos and co-Chief Executive Greg Peters said in a statement. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut this transaction was always a \u2018nice to have\u2019 at the right price, not a \u2018must have\u2019 at any price,\u201d the Netflix chiefs said.<\/p>\n
Netflix may have miscalculated the Ellison family\u2019s determination when it agreed Feb. 16 to allow Paramount back into the bidding. <\/p>\n
The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company already had prevailed in the auction, and had an agreement in hand. Its next step was a shareholder vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t need to let Paramount back in, but there was a lot of pressure on them to make sure the process wouldn\u2019t be challenged,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
In addition, Netflix\u2019s stock had also been pummeled \u2014 the company had lost a quarter of its value \u2014 since investors learned the company was making a Warner run. <\/p>\n
Upon news that Netflix had withdrawn, its shares soared Friday nearly 14% to $96.24.<\/p>\n
![\"Netflix](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1772284032_208_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Netflix Chief Executive Ted Sarandos arrives at the White House on Feb. 26, 2026. <\/p>\n
(Andrew Leyden \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Invited back into the auction room, Paramount unveiled a much stronger proposal than the one it submitted in December.<\/p>\n
The elder Ellison had pledged to personally guarantee the deal, including $45.7 billion in equity required to close the transaction. And if bankers became worried that Paramount was too leveraged, the tech mogul agreed to put in more money in order to secure the bank financing. <\/p>\n
That promise assuaged Warner Bros. Discovery board members who had fretted for weeks that they weren\u2019t sure Ellison would sign on the dotted line, according to two people close to the auction who were not authorized to comment. <\/p>\n
Paramount\u2019s pressure campaign had been relentless, first winning over theater owners, who expressed alarm over Netflix\u2019s business model that encourages consumers to watch movies in their homes.<\/p>\n
During the last two weeks, Sarandos got dragged into two ugly controversies.<\/p>\n
First, famed filmmaker James Cameron endorsed Paramount, saying a Netflix takeover would lead to massive job losses in the entertainment industry, which is already reeling from a production slowdown in Southern California that has disrupted the lives of thousands of film industry workers. <\/p>\n
Then, a week ago, Trump took aim at Netflix board member Susan Rice, a former high-level Obama and Biden administration official. In a social media post, Trump called Rice a \u201cno talent … political hack,\u201d and said that Netflix must fire her or \u201cpay the consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
The threat underscored the dicey environment for Netflix. <\/p>\n
Additionally, Paramount had sowed doubts about Netflix among lawmakers, regulators, Warner investors and ultimately the Warner board.<\/p>\n
Paramount assured Warner board members that it had a clear path to win regulatory approval so the deal would quickly be finalized. In a show of confidence, Delrahim filed to win the Justice Department\u2019s blessing in December \u2014 even though Paramount didn\u2019t have a deal. <\/p>\n
This month, a deadline for the Justice Department to raise issues with Paramount\u2019s proposed Warner takeover passed without comment from the Trump regulators. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnalysts believe the deal is likely to close,\u201d TD Cowen analysts said in a Friday report. \u201cWhile Paramount-WBD does present material antitrust risks (higher pay TV prices, lower pay for TV\/movie workers), analysts also see a key pro-competitive effect: improved competition in streaming, with Paramount+ and HBO Max representing a materially stronger counterweight to #1 Netflix.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout the battle, David Ellison relied on support from his father, attorney Delrahim, and three key board members: Oracle Executive Vice Chair Safra A. Catz; RedBird Capital Partners founder Gerry Cardinale; and Justin Hamill, managing director of tech investment firm Silver Lake.<\/p>\n
In the final days, David Ellison led an effort to flip Warner board members who had firmly supported Netflix. With Paramount\u2019s improved offer, several began leaning toward the Paramount deal. <\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Warner announced that Paramount\u2019s deal was promising.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Warner\u2019s board determined Paramount\u2019s deal had topped Netflix. That\u2019s when Netflix surrendered.<\/p>\n
\u201cParamount had a fulsome, 360-degree approach,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThey approached it financially. … They understood the regulatory environment here and abroad in the EU. And they had a game plan for every aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Friday, Paramount shares rose 21% to $13.51.<\/p>\n
It was a reversal of fortunes for David Ellison, who appeared on CNBC just three days after that war room meeting in December. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe put the company in play,\u201d David Ellison told the CNBC anchor that day. \u201cWe\u2019re really here to finish what we started.\u201d<\/p>\n
Times staff writer Ana Cabellos and Business Editor Richard Verrier contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The morning after Netflix clinched its deal to buy Warner Bros., Paramount Skydance Chairman David Ellison assembled a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[39405,1804,21405,6709,2424,9472,92153,48,52,51,47,50,49,9233,6336,47407,92152,53750,14955,430],"class_list":{"0":"post-198083","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-auction","9":"tag-company","10":"tag-david-ellison","11":"tag-deal","12":"tag-friday","13":"tag-investor","14":"tag-jonathan-miller","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-la-headlines","17":"tag-la-news","18":"tag-los-angeles","19":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","20":"tag-los-angeles-news","21":"tag-netflix","22":"tag-paramount","23":"tag-sarandos","24":"tag-trump-official","25":"tag-warner-board-member","26":"tag-warner-bros","27":"tag-week"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1772284032_414_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n