Economy News

Netflix walks away from Warner Bros. Discovery, leaving the studio to Paramount at $31 a share

Netflix said on Thursday 26 February that it would not raise its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery, leaving the studio to Paramount Skydance. Gulf News, carrying AFP, reports that co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said they were “declining to match” Paramount's latest bid, judging the deal no longer financially attractive.

Warner Bros. Discovery's board had called Paramount's offer a “Superior Proposal”. Paramount raised its all-cash bid on Monday to $31.00 a share, $1 more than before, valuing the company at about $108 billion. It also offered a $7 billion regulatory termination fee if the deal fails on regulatory grounds, agreed to cover the $2.8 billion break-up fee Warner Bros. Discovery would owe Netflix, and Larry Ellison committed extra funding if Paramount's banks need it. A Paramount win would put CNN under Ellison family control.

Japan's GIGAZINE recalls that Netflix signed a deal in December 2025 for Warner Bros.' film and TV studios and its streaming business, including HBO Max, with a final offer of $83 billion. Netflix said the deal it negotiated “had a clear path to regulatory approval and would create shareholder value.”

How each outlet framed it

• Gulf News (AFP) — the deal mechanics and the politics: Paramount's fees, Ellison's backing, Trump saying he had a say, and Sarandos visiting the White House for talks with officials.
• GIGAZINE — the Netflix side: what it originally agreed to buy, how much it offered, and why it chose to walk away.

Where the numbers differ: AFP puts the Netflix break-up fee at $2.8 billion; GIGAZINE says $2.87 billion. The $108 billion figure values the whole company under Paramount's bid, while Netflix's $83 billion covered only the studios and streaming arm.