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Netflix Reportedly Leading WBD Bidder as Paramount Cries Foul
December 4, 2025
With the Warner Bros. Discovery auction process topping entertainment news as 2025 ends, Netflix has reportedly emerged as the top bidder ahead of Paramount Skydance and Comcast.
The world’s No. 1 subscription streaming service’s 85% cash, 15% stock, offer appears to be appealing to WBD’s board and CEO David Zaslav in a process that is expected to wind down next week, according to David Faber with CNBC, citing sources familiar with the situation.
“Netflix is in the lead for the bidding of Warner Bros. Discovery,” Faber said Dec. 4 on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” “Now, that does not mean it will ultimately be victorious, but we are getting down to the very end of this process.”
Netflix, along with Paramount and Comcast, early this week submitted binding enhanced offers, with Paramount the lone suitor interested in all of WBD’s assets, while Netflix and Comcast are focused on the media giant’s studio and streaming operations.
“There is an expectation now that if Paramount wants to win, it will have to come back at an even higher price,” Faber said.
Paramount, which is fiscally backed by CEO David Ellison’s father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the richest people in the world, has reportedly proposed an all-cash offer of around $62 billion, or $25 per share.
Media reports suggest WBD’s studio and streaming assets alone are worth $70 billion. Zaslav’s Discovery Inc. acquired control of the former WarnerMedia from AT&T for $43 billion in 2022.
Faber contends the bids are now around the mid $20-per-share range, based on “informed” speculation.
“If things ended today, it would appear Netflix would be the winner of this auction. That said, it’s probably going to go through the weekend and we may very well see an end to this process early next week,” Faber said. “Of course the question for Paramount will be, what can they do to potentially compete with what at least seems to be a superior bid, at least in the opinion of the board of WBD (who along with Zaslav, would make the final decision)?”
For Netflix, a winning bid would be the biggest M&A move in the company’s history. It would also subject the streamer for the first time to government scrutiny regarding antitrust and other issues combining the No. 1 streamer with the No. 4 streamer — not an easy prospect in the politically charged Trump Administration.
Paramount has responded with a letter to Zaslav and the board questioning the “fairness and adequacy” of the sale process.
“How long would the [regulatory] process take? What is the posture of the Trump Administration regarding [liberal leaning] Netflix? How much of a breakup fee do you put it considering how long this could stretch out for,” said Faber.
The market has responded by sending Netflix shares down 1.5% in early morning trading Dec. 4.
Meanwhile, in a separate letter, Paramount lawyers are arguing that Netflix and WBD senior management’s cozy relationship is creating alleged bias in the bidding process.
Netflix and WBD have established multiple distribution agreements over the years, primarily focused on licensing WBD’s film and TV content to Netflix for streaming. These deals have evolved amid the shift toward streaming and the evolution of WBD’s own HBO Max platform, but they continue to play a role in content distribution.
“It has become increasingly clear, through media reporting and otherwise, that WBD appears to have abandoned the semblance and reality of a fair transaction process, thereby abdicating its duties to stockholders, and embarked on a myopic process with a predetermined outcome that favors a single bidder,” reads the letter. “We specifically request and expect this letter will be shared and discussed with the full board of directors of WBD.”
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