The Trump administration expresses “heavy skepticism” regarding the proposed $72 billion deal for Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and streaming assets, according to a senior administration official. Netflix announced on Friday its intention to acquire Warner Bros.? film studio along with its streaming service, HBO Max. The agreement is contingent upon obtaining regulatory approval. Senator Elizabeth Warren, representing Massachusetts, remarked, “This deal looks like an anti-monopoly nightmare. A Netflix-Warner Bros. merger would result in a substantial media conglomerate commanding nearly half of the streaming market — potentially leading to increased subscription costs for consumers and a reduction in viewing options, while jeopardizing the livelihoods of American workers,” Warren stated. “Under Donald Trump, the antitrust review process has also become a cesspool of political favoritism and corruption,” Warren stated. “The Justice Department is obligated to apply our country’s anti-monopoly regulations with fairness and transparency — rather than utilizing the Warner Bros. deal assessment as a means to facilitate influence-peddling and bribery.”
Paramount Skydance has submitted several offers for the complete acquisition of WBD, rather than targeting specific segments of the company’s assets. Paramount’s ultimate offer, submitted on Thursday evening, amounted to $30 per share, entirely in cash, as per reports. Comcast has also submitted a proposal for WBD’s film and streaming assets. The New York Post on Thursday reported that, “Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison met with Trump officials and key lawmakers in Washington DC on Wednesday to press his case against Warner Bros. Discovery’s potential selection of Netflix as its merger partner.” Ellison’s billionaire father, Larry Ellison, maintains a close relationship with President Donald Trump. On Thursday, report says that Paramount, in a letter to lawyers for WBD, cautioned that a sale to Netflix was unlikely to “ever close” due to regulatory hurdles both domestically and internationally. Paramount’s lawyers stated, “Acquiring Warner’s streaming and studio assets ‘will entrench and extend Netflix’s global dominance in a matter not allowed by domestic or foreign competition laws,’” as per reports.
Netflix’s acquisition of WBD’s assets is anticipated to finalize, contingent upon regulatory approval, following WBD’s execution of its intended spinout of Discovery Global, slated for the third quarter of 2026. Discovery Global would encompass CNN, TNT Sports, and Discovery channels. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission reveals that Netflix has consented to a reverse break-up fee of $5.8 billion should the deal fail to secure approval. Prior to assuming the presidency, Trump expressed his opposition to AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner, asserting that “it’s too much concentration of power in the hands of too few.” Following his assumption of office, the Department of Justice initiated a lawsuit in November 2017 aimed at obstructing the merger. The Department of Justice was unsuccessful in that lawsuit, leading to the completion of the merger in June 2018. Prior to the 2024 presidential election, Trump expressed opposition to the proposed sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan. Following his return to the White House in January, Trump signed an executive order in June that approved the merger, contingent upon the companies entering into a national security agreement with the U.S. government.
The agreement conferred upon the U.S. government a “golden share” in the merged entity, which Trump asserts provides a president with “total control.” Experts indicated that the share provides the government with a disproportionately significant influence in corporate governance.