Ellisons „Hardball Warner Bros. Tactics“ verschaffte Netflix einen Durchbruch

*Lucas Shaw for Bloomberg News*

On the night of Dec. 3, lawyers from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan sent a letter to Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., expressing “serious concerns about the fairness and adequacy” of the company’s sale process. Their client, David Ellison, chairman and chief executive officer of Paramount Skydance Corp., had been pursuing Warner Bros. for months and was worried the deal was slipping through his fingers.

Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav and his advisers were surprised. They believed they had run a fair process. Zaslav had met or spoken with Ellison at least six times in the past two months. Earlier that day, Paramount’s team had signaled they’d be sending a revised proposal to Warner Bros. Instead, the company received a legal threat.

Within hours, Ellison’s inner circle realized they’d made a mistake. Some didn’t even know the letter was going out, according to people familiar with the matter. Ellison’s advisers reached out to their counterparts at Warner Bros. and said the letter was “unhelpful,” according to a filing. The next morning, Paramount submitted its revised offer – its sixth — and Ellison texted Zaslav about the bid. When Zaslav didn’t respond, Ellison followed up with another text.

[Read the full story here.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-21/ellison-s-hardball-warner-bros-tactics-gave-netflix-an-opening?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2NjMyNDc5MywiZXhwIjoxNzY2OTI5NTkzLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUN0o1RE1UOTZPU0cwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJEMzU0MUJFQjhBQUY0QkUwQkFBOUQzNkI3QjlCRjI4OCJ9.FmT0VyOKcHt3eeMV55OZivCVBcmSOHBPWI3Fx-8RQUs)

Daddy’s money didn’t make him capable?