Netflix and Paramount Face Off for Warner Bros: Who Will Win the Bidding War? | Pivot

Let me tell you, Hollywood, buckle the fuck up because this is the beginning of what is a massive change in how Hollywood is made, and, and it, it has to happen. (instrumental music) Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher.

And I'm Scott Galloway.

Let's get you up to news because there's so much going on, Scott. Paramount is launching a hostile bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery after it lost out to Netflix. Uh, Paramount is going to Warner Bros. shareholders with an all-cash $30 per share offer, valuing the company at around 108 billion, including debt. That would be, uh, for all of Warner Bros.' studio, streaming, and cable networks, including CNN. There's various valuations for the, the, the cable networks, um, and CNN that are... They, they valued it at dollar, and the others valued it from three to five dollars. David Ellison is ap- uh, appeared on CNBC a little while ago, uh, with resting white lotus, uh, bro face saying, "We're really here to finish what we started." Let's listen to what he said about whether Trump is in his corner.

What I would say is I'm incredibly grateful for the relationship that I have with the President, and I also believe he believes in competition. And when you fundamentally look at the marketplace, allowing the number one streaming service to combine with the number three streaming service is anti-competitive.

Yeah, the person who's touting his relationship with Trump and has the Saudis and Jared Kushner in his deal is worried about unfairness. Meanwhile, before Paramount moved, Donald Trump said Netflix's acquisition of Warner Bros. could be a problem. It's a normal thing to say. He's... Uh, he didn't say anything wrong there, given the combined market share. But not to worry, he plans to be, quote, "involved in decision."

Thank God. (laughs)

He also... I know, right? Like, they never... Presidents never do this.

Not supposed to. (laughs)

Right, that's correct.

That's the whole point. You're not supposed to be involved.

That's right. Uh, Trump also confirmed... Of course, he is confirmed. He can't stay out of this one, come on. Recently, he met with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, the White House calling Ted "fantastic." Sarandos said last week he was confident the deal would be approved because it's pro-consumer and pro-innovation. But politicians on both sides are expressing concern. Senator Elizabeth Warren called it "an anti-monopoly nightmare." We haven't seen what she says about the Ellison bid yet. I'm sure she's just as mad a- as that about that one. Hollywood is also up in arms with many warning the deal could negatively impact jobs and movie production. Ah, where do we start? Let's start with the hostile takeover, I guess, because it's, uh, recent news. Um, Paramount's bid is backed, as I said, by Redbird, that's Jerry Cardinale, three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, as well as Affinity Partners, also- which is Jared Kushner's private equity firm. There's nothing to see here, folks. There's a lot to see here. The Saudis and Jared Kushner, that's a nice toxic cocktail of crap. Um, Trump, uh, uh, you know, whether he's gonna, um, weigh in here, of course, he is. Um, there's also a 5.8, uh, billion dollar breakup fee that Netflix will pay if the deal falls apart. Um, I don't know if they have to pay it if they pick another... I, I was thinking about that too. Yeah.