Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters on one of the company's fiscal webcasts
Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters Says Paramount’s WBD Bid ‘Doesn’t Pass the Sniff Test’
January 23, 2026
Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters says Paramount Skydance’s rival $108.4 billion all-cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery is a smokescreen largely reliant on tech billionaire Larry Ellison, the father of Paramount CEO David Ellison, and tens of billions in debt.
Netflix currently has an accepted $82.7 billion all-cash deal for WBD’s studio and streaming assets only.
In a Financial Times interview, Peters reiterated that Paramount’s hostile direct offer to WBD shareholders is predicated on more than $55 billion in debt financing. Netflix’s deal offers more fiscal certainty, according to WBD’s board of directors, which has rejected more than six separate bids by Paramount.
Paramount posted a net loss of almost $6 billion on revenue of $21 billion in the fiscal quarter through Sept. 30. Netflix reported net income of $2.4 billion on $12 billion in revenue in its most-recent fiscal quarter.
“Without Larry Ellison independently financing this thing, there’s no chance in hell Paramount would ever be able to pull this off,” Peters told the publication.
The executive said that Paramount’s current debt level undermines the company’s $30-per-share bid for WBD, which he says would require “pretty crazy” additional debt leverage.
“If they were to move [the bid higher], what kind of [debt] leverage would they have to have?” Peters said. “It’s hard to imagine how that works out well.”
“It doesn’t pass the sniff test in my mind,” he added. “And that’s what the Warner Bros. board determined. And I think that’s where the Warner shareholders are at too.”
Gerry Cardinale, founder of RedBird Capital and Paramount’s second-largest shareholder, counters that Netflix’s offer is “smoke and mirrors,” arguing that Paramount’s debt is not as high as reported.
“Our leverage is nowhere near what they’re talking about,” Cardinale said before Netflix changed its offer to all-cash. “The Netflix deal is the Harry Houdini of deals.”
To date, less than 7% of WBD’s 2.5 billion outstanding shares have been tendered to the Paramount deal, which is set to expire on Feb. 20.
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