In November, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos traveled to the White House for a lengthy meeting with Donald Trump. according to bloombergThe two discussed a number of topics, but chief among them was Netflix’s plans to bid on Warner Bros. At the end of their conversation, Sardonos realized that “Netflix will not face immediate opposition from the White House.”
This week, Netflix successfully won the bidding war for Warner by offering $82.7 billion. It is well known that Paramount and its CEO David Ellison were eager to acquire the historic studio and its streaming properties. Ellison and his father, Larry Ellison, have close ties to the White House and suggested in their appeal to Warner that only they were in a position to remove regulatory barriers to further media consolidation.
It appears that Sarandos is right to believe that Ellison overestimated his political clout. And despite some public efforts to turn the White House against the deal, Netflix won for now. Of course, there’s still the possibility that Paramount could launch a hostile takeover attempt, or the Justice Department could try to scuttle the deal – nothing is guaranteed just yet.
Sarandos tried to acquire Paramount before David Ellison came along, so snatching Warner Bros. from under his nose is probably a personal triumph.
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