Netflix announced on Friday that it will acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in a blockbuster deal worth nearly $83 billion, marking the entertainment industry’s largest merger in more than a decade and reshaping the global media landscape.
The acquisition hands Netflix control of one of Hollywood’s richest film and television libraries—along with the prestigious HBO Max streaming platform. Warner Bros., founded a century ago, is behind timeless classics such as Casablanca and Citizen Kane, as well as modern cultural juggernauts including The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, and the Harry Potter franchise.
“Together, we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling,” said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, celebrating the deal that unites the streaming giant behind global hits like Stranger Things, Squid Game, and KPop Demon Hunters with one of Hollywood’s most storied studios.
The merger surpasses Disney’s $71 billion acquisition of Fox in 2019, previously the largest deal in entertainment history.
Under the terms, Warner Bros. Discovery is valued at $27.75 per share, amounting to a total equity value of about $72 billion and an enterprise value—including debt—of approximately $82.7 billion. The company’s shares closed at $24.54 on the Nasdaq the day before the announcement.
“Today’s announcement brings together two of the world’s greatest storytelling companies,” said David Zaslav, President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. Both companies’ boards unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to close within 12 to 18 months.
Regulatory and Industry Reactions
Industry analysts predict that the deal will face intense scrutiny, particularly from U.S. antitrust regulators.
“Netflix aims to dominate Hollywood,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading firm XTB. She warned that absorbing Warner Bros. Discovery would create “a colossus in the TV and movie business,” raising concerns about market concentration and potential monopolistic influence.
Brooks also noted that Netflix has never pursued an acquisition of this scale, cautioning that investors may worry about management challenges as the two giants integrate.
Warner Bros. Discovery, parent company of HBO, CNN, and Warner Bros. Studios, put itself up for sale in October after fielding multiple unsolicited offers—abandoning its earlier plan to split into two separate entities. The studio had previously drawn interest from Paramount, recently acquired by the billionaire Ellison family, as well as Comcast’s NBCUniversal.
Bloomberg reported that Netflix entered a competitive second-round auction during the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, alongside Paramount’s Skydance and Comcast, while arranging a multibillion-dollar bridge loan to finance the deal.
Hollywood Pushback
Not everyone in Hollywood welcomed the news. Several major filmmakers expressed concern that Netflix’s model—often favoring streaming-first releases—could diminish the cinematic experience.
Before the announcement, Titanic director James Cameron warned that a Netflix takeover of Warner Bros. would be “a disaster,” reflecting widespread fears that one of the last bastions of traditional theatrical filmmaking could be transformed into a streaming-driven entity.
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