Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav told rattled staffers that the company’s abrupt pivot to a Paramount Skydance tie-up felt “whiplash-y” — while insisting the media giant had no choice but to bulk up or risk getting steamrolled.
“For even us, the speed — it feels a little whiplash-y,” Zaslav said during a Friday morning town hall, adding that executives were still “getting our bearings.” His comments were first reported by Business Insider after the town hall meeting audio was leaked.
Still, he struck an upbeat tone about the blockbuster deal, telling employees, “Together, we can be a great company.”
“It’s not easy, but we’re getting bigger, and we’re getting stronger,” Zaslav told his charges on Friday.
Zaslav framed the transaction as existential, telling employees: “If Warner Bros. is going to survive, then we needed to be bigger, and we needed to be global.”
The mogul warned that “some of these companies are getting so big that they can just run us over.”
He also sounded a note of caution, saying that “the deal may not close,” but added that “if it doesn’t close, we get $7 billion, and we get back to work.”
The remarks came as Paramount Skydance emerged as the winning bidder for WBD after Netflix declined to raise its $27.75-per-share offer.
Paramount boosted its bid to $31 per share in cash and agreed to a ticking fee and a $7 billion regulatory termination fee, setting up what could be a roughly $110 billion merger that now faces months of regulatory scrutiny in the US and abroad.
The $7 billion figure referenced by Zaslav in his comments to employees on Friday is a massive regulatory termination fee Paramount agreed to pay if the merger is blocked on antitrust grounds — effectively a built-in insurance policy for WBD.
It cushions shareholders against a failed deal and gives Zaslav leverage to argue that even in defeat, the company would walk away with a multibillion-dollar cash infusion rather than empty-handed.
The California Post reported earlier this week that Paramount Skydance leapfrogged Netflix as the favorite to land WBD after Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos failed to sway a skeptical Trump administration to approve a proposed takeover by the streamer.
Sarandos met with Attorney General Pam Bondi, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Justice Department antitrust officials to attempt to convince the administration not to oppose the deal on antitrust grounds, The Post reported.
President Trump lashed out at Netflix earlier this month in a social media post after Susan Rice, a Netflix board member and top Democrat, warned that corporations that “take a knee” to the Trump administration should expect to be “held accountable” if Dems return to power.
The pivot caps a dramatic bidding war that began Dec. 5, when Netflix struck a $27.75-per-share deal to acquire Warner Bros.’ studio and HBO assets in a transaction valued at roughly $82.7 billion including debt.
The agreement was later amended to an all-cash structure in January to speed shareholder approval — underscoring how far along the Netflix deal was before Paramount swooped in.
Paramount, led by David Ellison, first countered with a $30-per-share bid for the entire company — including its cable networks — before sweetening the offer to $31 per share in cash.
It also agreed to cover the $2.8 billion breakup fee WBD would owe Netflix and layered in a ticking fee worth 25 cents per share per quarter if the deal drags on, financial sweeteners that ultimately persuaded WBD’s board to deem it capable of becoming a “superior proposal.”
The proposed merger would create a combined entertainment giant with more than 200 million streaming subscribers across HBO Max, Discovery+, and Paramount+, but it would still trail Netflix and YouTube in overall TV share.
WBD ended 2025 with 131.6 million streaming subscribers and $29 billion in net debt, while Paramount+ had 78.9 million paid subscribers — highlighting both the scale ambition and the balance-sheet strain behind Zaslav’s push to bulk up.
Netflix said Thursday it would not sweeten its bid for WBD, declaring that while the tie-up “would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” matching Paramount Skydance’s higher offer no longer made financial sense.
A White House spokesperson told reporters that the president has “great relationships with all parties in this potential transaction and remains neutral in this process with no preference” between Netflix and Paramount.
The California Post has sought comment from WBD, Paramount Skydance and the White House.
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