At his Beverly Hills home last Saturday night, Warner Bros Discovery boss David Zaslav received a call from David Ellison. Paramount had upped its bid by $1 a share to $111bn for Warner and conceded to several key demands in the months-long struggle for control of the legendary Hollywood studio.
The fierce takeover battle had started at Zaslav’s residence five months earlier with a visit from Ellison, sparking an auction for Warner that Netflix initially won in December. But after months of high-stakes gamesmanship, Paramount gained the upper hand again.
That fight decisively concluded on Thursday when Netflix declined to sweeten its bid and walked away. Paramount executives sipped champagne out of paper cups on the legendary studio lot in Hollywood to celebrate.