The deal at a glance
What Paramount pays for WBD shares
$81B
Equity value alone
Total deal including debt taken on
$111B
The actual all-in price tag
Premium above WBD’s pre-deal stock price
147%
WBD shares were at $12.54 before this began
Films per year promised
30+
With a 45-day theatrical window guarantee for cinemas
How Netflix almost got everything
Picture the world’s biggest streaming platform buying the world’s most famous film studio. That is exactly what nearly happened. On December 5, 2025, Netflix announced it had agreed to buy Warner Bros.’ studios and streaming operations for $82.7 billion — paying shareholders partly in cash and partly in Netflix stock. Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav told staff the deal was unlikely to cause mass layoffs because Netflix’s intention was “to keep most people.”
For Netflix, this was the missing piece in a 30-year puzzle. Netflix has never made a genuine theatrical blockbuster. It has built the world’s biggest streaming audience, but the Academy Awards and the global cinema circuit had largely ignored it. Warner Bros. gave it Harry Potter, The Dark Knight, Game of Thrones, Friends, The Matrix, Dune, and a century of storytelling muscle — all in a single transaction. CEO Ted Sarandos called it combining “timeless classics” with Netflix’s culture-defining originals to “define the next century of storytelling.”
The one thing Netflix did not want — and why that mattered enormously
That single decision — leaving cable behind — handed Paramount the winning argument it needed. Paramount could say: we want everything, including the part nobody else wants. And that turned out to be exactly what Warner’s shareholders cared about most.
How Paramount crashed the party
Three days after Netflix celebrated its deal, Paramount CEO David Ellison — son of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison — launched a hostile all-cash offer of $108.4 billion for the entire Warner Bros. Discovery. Not just the streaming side. Everything. The full company. CNN, HBO, the cable channels, all of it.
A hostile takeover is when a company tries to buy another company by going directly to its shareholders — bypassing the management and board who have already said no. Paramount essentially told Warner shareholders: “Your board has chosen Netflix. We think you deserve a better deal. Here’s our offer. You decide.” This kind of move is rare, aggressive, and makes for extraordinary corporate drama.
Ellison’s core argument was about cash. “We are offering shareholders $18 billion more in actual money than the Netflix deal.” He also promised that if Paramount won, it would combine CBS News with CNN — a pledge that excited some investors and alarmed press freedom advocates in equal measure.
“Our proposal is superior to Netflix in every dimension.”
— David Ellison, Paramount CEO, December 8, 2025
Warner’s board said no — four times
First rejection — board backs Netflix
Warner’s board called Paramount’s $30/share offer “inadequate.” They trusted Netflix more — a company with a clean balance sheet and no debt problems — over a smaller studio trying to swallow a giant.
Second rejection — the debt alarm
Paramount came back with a revised offer backed by a personal $40 billion guarantee from Larry Ellison himself. Warner’s board still said no — pointing out that Paramount’s financing would create $87 billion in combined debt, one of the largest debt loads ever taken on by any media company. Standard & Poor’s and Fitch had already rated Paramount’s existing debt at junk grade. The board said this was too risky for shareholders.
Third and fourth rejections — loyalty to Netflix held firm
Warner’s chairman sent multiple written letters to shareholders urging them to stay with Netflix. The board said Paramount’s offer still “lacked certainty” and did not adequately protect shareholders if the deal collapsed under its debt weight.
The moment everything changed — Netflix quietly walks away
Paramount raised its offer one final time to $31 per share in pure cash. Under the deal rules, Netflix was given the right to match it. Netflix chose not to. Without a word of fanfare, the world’s biggest streaming platform stepped back. Warner’s board — which had backed Netflix in every previous round — had no choice but to declare Paramount’s offer “superior.” The deal was signed the next morning, February 27, 2026.
Shareholders vote yes
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approved the Paramount acquisition by an overwhelming majority. In the same meeting, they also voted to reject CEO David Zaslav’s exit pay package — a pointed parting message about executive excess at a company that spent months being fought over like a trophy.
The money trail — fees, guarantees, and foreign billions
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Penalty Paramount pays Netflix for pulling WBD out of their deal | $2.8B |
| Penalty Paramount pays WBD if governments block the merger | $7B |
| Larry Ellison’s personal money guarantee backing the bid | $40B |
| Total debt the merged company will carry | ~$87B |
| Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund — contribution | Undisclosed |
| UAE + Qatar sovereign funds — contribution | Undisclosed |
| Extra cost per share if deal misses Sept 30 deadline | $0.25/quarter |
| Annual savings Paramount promises from combining operations | $6B+ |
The presence of Saudi, UAE and Qatari sovereign wealth funds as financial backers is one of the more quietly significant elements of this deal. These are government-backed investment funds from Gulf nations that are putting real money into the entity that will own CNN. Paramount has confirmed they will have no voting rights in the merged company — but the fact that a major news network’s parent company is partly financed by foreign governments has drawn concern from lawmakers and press freedom organisations on both sides of the aisle.
What comes under one roof
Streaming platforms likely to merge
HBO Max + Paramount+
Bigger library, potentially one subscription price
News networks under same owner
CNN + CBS
Two of America’s most-watched news brands, one company
Films per year, guaranteed
30+
With a full 45-day cinema window before streaming
Feature films WBD has produced in its history
10,000+
A full century of cinema history moving under one roof
Governments are not done yet
The deal is approved by shareholders — but not by governments
Shareholders saying yes is only one step. Before a single frame of footage transfers hands, the deal must be cleared by the US Department of Justice, the European Union, and the UK’s competition watchdog. The DOJ has already asked both companies for a second round of detailed documents — a sign that regulators want a deeper look before deciding whether this merger is too much power in too few hands. Several US state governments, led by California, are also separately investigating. European regulators may demand Paramount sell off some assets before they approve — the same thing happened when Microsoft tried to buy gaming giant Activision in 2023.
The opposition extends well beyond government buildings. Thousands of Hollywood actors, directors and writers signed a public letter calling the deal an “antitrust disaster” that will result in job losses and a narrower range of stories being told. Senator Elizabeth Warren called the shareholder vote a “serious setback.” Jane Fonda’s advocacy group, the Committee for the First Amendment, warned that a handful of powerful people should not be allowed to quietly reshape American media without accountability.
The box office case — why this library is worth fighting over
Barbie (2023)
WB’s all-time highest earner. Hit $1 billion in under 30 days of release.
Harry Potter & Deathly Hallows Pt. II (2011)
The finale of an 8-film franchise that defined a generation of cinema.
Aquaman (2018)
DC’s biggest solo film — outearned even Batman at the global box office.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Made on $185M. Returned over 5× that globally. Changed superhero films forever.
Dune: Part Two (2024)
One of WB’s newest franchise tentpoles — now moving under Paramount ownership.
The Matrix (1999)
Worth roughly $841M in today’s money. Made on a fraction of that.
Titanic (1997)
Paramount’s box office king for 25 years. $600.8M in the US alone on its original run.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Overtook Titanic as Paramount’s biggest domestic film in 110 years of studio history.
Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
Giant robots + global audiences = a reliable billion dollars.
Mission: Impossible — all 8 films combined
The 17th highest-grossing franchise in the history of cinema.
The Godfather (1972)
Made on $6M. Worth roughly $1.7B in today’s money. Greatest return in gangster film history.
The pay paradox — Hollywood vs Indian cinema
Before the numbers — a transparency gap as wide as the Indian Ocean
Hollywood is unusually open about what stars earn — agents leak deals to trade papers, court filings confirm them, and Variety publishes the details. Indian cinema works entirely differently. No actor, producer or studio in India officially confirms fees. The figures widely reported in the entertainment press — including Forbes India estimates — are informed industry speculation, not confirmed figures. Nobody signs a salary announcement. So the comparison below is between verified Hollywood numbers and widely-believed Indian estimates. That gap in transparency is itself part of the story.
Tom Cruise
MI: Dead Reckoning (2023) — base salary
$12–14M
Confirmed by Variety. Plus co-producer backend — took an estimated $100M+ total from Top Gun: Maverick’s $1.49B gross via 10% profit share.
Allu Arjun
Pushpa 2: The Rule (2024)
~$36M
Forbes India reported ₹300 crore upfront — widely circulated but never officially confirmed by the actor, his team, or the production house.
Tom Cruise
Top Gun: Maverick (2022) — total estimated payout
$100M+
$13M base + ~10% of profits from a $1.49B global gross. His first-ever film past $1B, after four decades of performing his own stunts.
Prabhas
Kalki 2898 AD / Salaar 2 deal
~$24M/film
Trade reports suggest ₹200 crore per film for a three-picture Hombale Films deal — record-breaking if accurate, but no official party has confirmed it.
Rajinikanth
Vettaiyan (2024)
~$15–32M
Entertainment press widely cites ₹125–270 crore per film. At 74, still the biggest box office name in Tamil cinema. Actual deal terms: never made public.
Thalapathy Vijay
GOAT / Leo
~$16–33M
Industry media regularly reports ₹130–275 crore range. Widely believed in the trade. Officially confirmed by nobody — not the actor, not the producers.
Why the comparison is more complicated than it looks
Tom Cruise takes a smaller upfront salary in exchange for a share of the film’s profits once it starts making money — a structure called a “backend deal.” That is why his base salary for Dead Reckoning was only $12M, but his total from Top Gun: Maverick was over $100M. Indian stars, by contrast, are believed to take larger guaranteed upfront fees — partly because the systems for tracking backend profits from theatrical, OTT, and satellite deals are less standardised across the industry. Neither model is more generous. They are just structured differently — and only one of them ever gets published.
Cruise’s total from all 8 M:I films
~$385M
Verified estimate across the franchise’s full run
Allu Arjun — Pushpa 2 (reported)
~$36M
If the widely-reported figure is accurate
Prabhas — Hombale 3-film deal (reported)
~$72M
If ₹200Cr/film estimate holds. Unconfirmed.
Cruise’s current net worth
~$600M
Includes co-producer income across decades of franchises
