Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos Says Paramount’s Hostile Bid For WBD Was “Entirely Expected”, Still “Super-Confident” About Closing Deal

Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos Says Paramount’s Hostile Bid For WBD Was “Entirely Expected”, Still “Super-Confident” About Closing Deal

Dade Hayes

Mon, December 8, 2025 at 2:27 PM EST

2 min read

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Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said Paramount’s hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery was “entirely expected,” but the exec said he remains “super-confident” in the streaming giant’s plan to close the deal.

“Today’s move was entirely expected,” Sarandos said at a conference in New York hosted by Wall Street bank UBS. “We have a deal done, and we are incredibly happy with the deal. It’s great for shareholders, great for consumers. We think it’s a great way to create and protect jobs in the entertainment industry. We’re super confident we’re going to get it across the line. So we’re set.

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Sarandos opened the planned 35-minute session with the comments, which came in response to UBS media analyst John Hodulik’s straightforward question about the Paramount news. “What are your thoughts?” Hodulik asked, and the room broke out in laughter as the buzzed-about topic surfaced.

Netflix last Friday announced a $82.7 billion deal (including debt) to acquire the studios and streaming division of Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount then came back Monday morning with a hostile offer of $30 per share for the entire company, higher than the Netflix proposal’s $27.75 a share.

In a conference call with analysts Monday to discuss the bid, as well as during a somewhat contentious interview on CNBC, Paramount CEO David Ellison strove to depict his bid as pro-consumer and pro-competition. Letting Netflix and Warner Bros. merge, he argued, would be a negative outcome for streaming subscribers and the industry alike. He also argued that “cash is king,” with Paramount’s new bid (its sixth in the past 12 weeks) entirely cash, and said it provides more certainty to WBD shareholders in terms of the financials as well as on the regulatory front.

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