"At one point, Ted Sarandos and company thought they had done enough to win over Donald Trump, which is what you need to get a merger done in 2026. But Trump never announced that he would actually favor Netflix's bid over the Ellisons', who have done a lot of work to woo Trump."
"At a congressional hearing earlier this month, Netflix got a taste of the pushback it would get from Republicans, who accused the company of pushing woke content on its subscribers. And last weekend, Trump reminded Netflix of his penchant for pushing around American companies from his bully pulpit, when he demanded that Netflix fire a board member who offended him."
"Netflix shareholders had been signalling their distaste for the deal for weeks by pushing down the company's stock. Netflix shares began rebounding this week as it became clear that Paramount's chances of winning the deal were getting better."
Netflix made an unprecedented $83 billion acquisition bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, but the deal faced significant opposition from both investors and Republicans. Shareholders expressed disapproval through stock price declines, while Republican lawmakers criticized Netflix's content strategy at congressional hearings. Despite Netflix's efforts to secure political support from the Trump administration, the company received no explicit endorsement for the merger. Trump's recent demands that Netflix fire a board member demonstrated his willingness to pressure American companies. After a White House visit by Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos yielded no assurances of administration backing, Netflix withdrew from the deal. This outcome allows Paramount, backed by the Ellison family who cultivated Trump relationships, to acquire all of Warner Bros. Discovery, including its television networks and CNN.
#netflix-acquisition #warner-bros-discovery-merger #political-opposition #shareholder-resistance #media-consolidation
Read at Business Insider
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]