Paramount Skydance Still Insists Its All-Cash $108.4 Billion WBD Offer is Superior to Netflix’s Accepted Offer
January 8, 2026
If select Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders thought publicly encouraging Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison to up his $108.4 billion all-cash offer for the media company might increase their payout, they remain disappointed.
Ellison Jan. 8 reiterated in a filing that his company’s existing hostile offer for WBD is superior to Netflix’s accepted offer of $82.7 billion for the studio and streaming assets only.
“Our offer clearly provides WBD investors greater value and a more certain, expedited path to completion,” Ellison said in a statement. “Throughout this process, we have worked hard for WBD shareholders and remain committed to engaging with them on the merits of our superior bid and advancing our ongoing regulatory review process.”
WBD’s board of directors is urging shareholders to approve Netflix’s 80% cash, 20% stock offer, which it says passes fiscal requirements and scrutiny better than Paramount’s, the latter largely relying on an “irrevocable personal guarantee” of $40.4 billion from Ellison’s father, tech billionaire Larry Ellison.
Paramount’s offer, like Netflix’s, requires third-party financing, some of which is reportedly coming from Middle Eastern countries’ sovereign wealth funds.
Paramount claims Netflix’s $27.75-per-share offer has declined in value due to market changes, which it says currently values the offer at $27.42-per share.
That’s due in part because Netflix’s offer included giving WBD shareholders a stake in the pending non-acquired television assets, dubbed Discovery Global. Paramount contends that the TV assets’ value isn’t worth much.
Comcast’s recently spun-off TV property, called Versant Media Group, has seen its stock price plummet more than 28% since Jan. 1.
Netflix shares are down almost 4% since Jan. 1, while Paramount Skydance shares are down 8%.
Through nine months of the fiscal year, ended Sept. 30, 2025, Netflix’s net income was $8.56 billion on revenue of $33.13 billion. Paramount tallied a net loss of $5.96 billion on revenue of $21.22 billion.
Paramount’s revised offer expires Jan. 21.
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