David Ellison’s company has written David Zaslav’s company a sternly worded letter.
Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic, Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage
Another day, another stressful development in the battle for Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount Skydance sent a strongly worded letter yesterday to WBD CEO David Zaslav claiming “that WBD appears to have abandoned the semblance and reality of a fair transaction process.” The letter alleged that the process had been “tainted” by conflicts of interest within WBD management that favor Netflix’s bid, as well as a reported meeting between WBD and the European Commission where “concerns were raised” that a Paramount takeover of the company could lead to “excessive media concentration.”
In plain English, Paramount’s pissed. And it’s practically accusing WBD of back-channeling in favor of sweeter terms for individuals like Zaslav; the words “active sabotage” were thrown around. This led WBD to reply with its own letter, saying its board “attends to its fiduciary obligations with the utmost care, and that they have fully and robustly complied with them and will continue to do so.”
Paramount’s anger doesn’t come out of nowhere. Ellison’s company has been WBD’s most aggressive prospective suitor, and Paramount’s latest bid to control the company was also its fourth. Part of Ellison’s pitch to buy the company remains the understanding that he and his dad, Larry, are chummy with President Trump, which could help sand down the federal regulatory hurdles to securing the deal. But European regulators (and state attorneys general) will have something to say about it before a deal is done, too. Likewise, Paramount, unlike Netflix and Comcast, looks to control all of WBD, instead of just its streaming and studios business, which was originally set to be spun off from WBD’s declining cable assets and led by Zaslav before the company went up for sale. There’s no way Zaslav — who still lives in Bob Evans’s house — wants to give up power entirely in the new company.
Here’s where all three bids stand after WBD requested a second round of higher offers due December 1:
➽ Netflix has submitted a mostly cash offer to take control of WBD’s streaming and studios business.
➽ Comcast’s bid seeks to do the same and would reportedly merge the streaming and studios business with NBCUniversal and give Zaslav a management role at the newly formed company. Both those scenarios would allow WBD to spin off its declining cable business as planned.
➽ Paramount put a higher all-cash offer on the table — reportedly backed by Apollo Global Management, Inc., and the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi.
While the auction could wrap up in a matter of weeks — Zaslav’s remained bullish thus far on getting it done before the new year — we’d expect the regulatory review to extend well into 2026.
