11 Dec 2025
In the early 2010s, HBO dismissed Netflix’s potential, declined a partnership, and resisted licensing content to Netflix.
Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) entered a definitive agreement, which allows Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. and its studios, HBO, HBO Max, New Line Cinema, and the debt.
The enterprise value is $82.7 billion, of which equity is $72 billion. The transaction will close after WBD Global Networks Division separates from Discovery Global to form a publicly traded company by Q3 2026.
Paramount Studios pursued WBD for months. After the Netflix deal, Paramount triggered a hostile takeover bid. It wants the entire WBD portfolio, including pay-TV networks, for $108.4 billion.
HBO’s parent company, Time Warner, merged with AOL in 2001 and was sold to AT&T in 2016, among the worst business deals. HBO joined Warner in 2022.
In the late 1990s, Amazon offered to buy Netflix for $16 million, but Netflix declined. In 2000, Netflix offered to sell itself to Blockbuster for $50 million, which Blockbuster laughed off.
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