Netflix announces $82.7 billion acquisition deal for Warner Bros.
The deal will have to be signed off on by antitrust regulators in 2026
Netflix is set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. in a massive $82.7 billion acquisition that includes HBO Max and HBO, along with properties like DC comics, prestige television series like The Sopranos, the WB Games studios, and the Game of Thrones universe. It’s a big get for Netflix, a company that has been facing increasing competition from other streaming services as everyone raced for a slice of the new media pie in a post-cable world.
The sale itself isn’t a surprise; Warner Bros. Discovery announced in October that the company was initiating a “review of potential alternatives to maximize shareholder value”, and Paramount and Comcast were reportedly among the interested buyers.
The transaction has yet to close; Warner Brothers is separating its Global Networks division into a new publicly traded company known as Discovery Global, a process that is expected to be completed in Q3 2026. The deal will require regulatory approval, and its likely that the entertainment industry will have serious concerns with the deal. The Director’s Guild of America is already lining up talks with Netflix, and Variety reported that a group of anonymous A-listers in the industry have begun campaigning Congress in opposition to the acquisition.
Despite the press release sharing all the anticipated shareholder value at stake, this deal could be catastrophic for the entertainment industry. We’ve already seen Warner Bros. Discovery shutter studios and unceremoniously cancel projects for tax breaks. With the rise of AI, constant layoffs in the entertainment industry, and increasingly sanitized and censored works, it doesn’t seem like consolidating two titans into an even bigger company is a great idea. We’ll have to see whether the deal is able to bypass its opposition next year, and whether Netflix is able to properly curate its new resources, or whether the company simply continues the trend of slashing and cutting every corner to make the highest possible profit.