Despite a hostile takeover offer for Warner Bros. Discovery by bidding rival Paramount Skydance earlier in the morning, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos on Monday said he remains “super confident” that Netflix will be able to close its nearly $83 billion deal with the Hollywood conglomerate.
“Today’s move was entirely expected,” Sarandos said this afternoon at the UBS Global TMT conference regarding Paramount’s hostile bid announcement for WBD earlier on Monday. “We have a deal done, and we’re incredibly happy with the deal. We think it’s great for shareholders. We think it’s great for consumers. We think it’s a great way to create and protect jobs in the entertainment industry.”
Sarandos appeared alongside co-CEO Greg Peters at the UBS conference. The speaking event came just three days after Netflix surprised many and beat out Paramount in the bidding for WBD. Netflix’s agreement involves buying WBD’s studio and streaming businesses in a stock and cash deal, while Paramount’s still vying for the entire company with an all-cash takeover bid that it asserts is better for WBD shareholders. Both Netflix executives used the investment bank’s stage Monday to position their big deal.
Sarandos once again offered assurance that the Warner Bros. theatrical movie business will remain safe from corporate harm. “We're deeply committed to releasing those movies exactly the way they release those movies today,” he said. … "We didn't buy this company to destroy that value.”
The HBO brand, meanwhile, will also be kept intact, with Netflix “doubling down” on its growth and development. “This is a prestige TV brand that people really love,” Sarandos said. He also remarked that current WBD management has been “doing gymnastics” trying to convert HBO into a “general entertainment brand.”
Sarandos also assured listeners that the WBD TV studio business will remain intact and nurtured.
While the Netflix executives worked their messaging, Sarandos also emphasized an “America first” angle for regulators.
U.S. President Donald Trump, Sarandos said, is “very interested” in how this deal protects American jobs. “And he understands what we do, which is that we drive a ton of great work in America. Our original productions employed 40,000 people to 2024. Our economic contribution to the U.S. economy is about $125 billion. We are producing in all 50 states. We’ve used 500 independent production companies to make content for us, about roughly 1,000 original projects. And beyond just the jobs, we're also investing in the entertainment ecosystem. We're spending a billion dollars building a studio in New Jersey right now, built on the old Port Monmouth Military base. It's been empty for about 13 years. And it's revitalizing the economy all over that area. We have 11 films in production right now in New Jersey. We have a fully running studio we built in New Mexico. It's been a great job center and a great jobs training center.”
Peters, meanwhile, worked to disprove the notion that Netflix will have grown too big and too powerful with the purchase. He noted that on Nielsen’s popular U.S. viewing-share tracker, Netflix (which captured 8% of all U.S. TV viewing in October) would only add WBD’s 1.3% to its share and would still rank far behind YouTube (at nearly 13% the latest month).