New season of Succession just dropped.
Paramount, in a dramatic hostile manoeuvre, has launched a $74.4 billion counter-offer for Warner Bros. Discovery, directly challenging Netflix’s agreed $72 billion deal.
Paramount’s appeal bypasses Warner’s management to woo shareholders with a richer price and a vow to keep the entire empire intact, including the cable networks Netflix would discard.
The high-stakes duel is rapidly spilling beyond Wall Street into the political arena, with President Donald Trump voicing antitrust concerns over the Netflix deal.
Paramount, led by David Ellison, whose family has deep ties to Trump, is pitching its bid as a pro-competition, pro-theatrical saviour for Hollywood.
Intriguingly, Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is poised to invest in the Paramount offer.
