Paramount’s Takeover Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Rejected: A Hollywood Power Play Unfolds

The race to reshape Hollywood’s streaming landscape just got more dramatic. Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), the media giant behind HBO, CNN, and Warner Bros. Entertainment, has rejected a takeover offer from David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance valued at roughly $20 per share, calling it “too low,” according to Bloomberg News.

Warner Bros Discovery’s stock closed at $17.10 on Friday — already up more than 36% since rumors first broke on September 11 that Ellison was exploring a bid. Despite that surge, the company’s board was not convinced the $20-per-share valuation reflected the studio’s full potential, particularly as the entertainment conglomerate prepares to split into two separate entities next spring.

The Offer That Didn’t Fly

David Ellison, fresh off his $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global, had reportedly teamed up with Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm that had also expressed interest in Paramount earlier this year. The deal would have represented one of Hollywood’s most ambitious mergers, potentially combining Warner Bros. Discovery’s $42.3 billion market cap and content powerhouse portfolio with Paramount’s growing streaming assets.

However, one major question loomed: Would the offer include WBD’s massive $35.6 billion debt load? Sources did not confirm this, but analysts speculate it may have played a role in the rejection.

Paramount Skydance’s David Ellison

Ellison’s Vision: Scale Through Content

At the recent Bloomberg Screentime Conference in Los Angeles, David Ellison stopped short of confirming the bid but emphasized his belief in consolidation as the future of streaming. “You actually need more content to yield more engagement,” he said. “We’d want to be in the business to produce more movies and more television series — to get more scale and engagement.”

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Ellison’s comments echo those of WBD CEO David Zaslav, who has also called for greater industry consolidation amid rising streaming costs and declining cable revenue. But while their philosophies align, their boardrooms don’t — at least not yet.

Warner Bros. Discovery is already preparing for a major corporate restructuring, expected to split the company into two divisions by spring:

Warner Bros., encompassing film studios and streaming (HBO Max)

Discovery Global, including linear networks like Discovery Channel and Discovery+

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This strategic move could make each segment more attractive to future buyers — including Skydance, should David Ellison return with a sweeter deal.

Meanwhile, industry insiders see this as a preview of the next great content arms race, with studios scrambling to build scalable streaming empires that can rival Netflix and Disney.