It was supposed to be the media marriage of the decade, but it ended with a typo and a jilted billionaire.
David Ellison, the tech heir behind Paramount Skydance, spent twelve arduous weeks courting Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav.
The romance included intimate dinners with Ellison’s father, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, and high-stakes trips to Zaslav’s Beverly Hills estate. They discussed a ‘pro-Hollywood’ future and a unified media empire.
Then, as Variety reports, the relationship went cold.
In a move that left the industry stunned, Zaslav simply stopped returning calls. The desperation is preserved forever in regulatory filings. In a final text message, Ellison wrote to Zaslav, “Daivd [sic], I appreciate you’re underwater… we are always loyal and honorable.”
Yes, he misspelled the man’s name.
“Daivd” vs. Goliath
While Ellison was struggling with autocorrect, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos was busy closing the deal. Netflix swooped in with an AU$127 billion all-stock merger, effectively gazumping the Ellisons and leaving them standing alone at the altar.
But a spurned suitor is a dangerous thing.
The wooing phase is officially over, and the hostile takeover has begun. Paramount has launched a massive AU$165 billion all-cash counter-bid, slamming the Netflix deal as ‘inferior’ and counting on shareholder greed to override Zaslav’s change of heart.
However, the real story here is not the money. It’s the politics.
Jilted: Ellison was ghosted by Zaslav at the last minute
Make Media Great Again
This is no longer just a business transaction; it is a brazen attempt to Make Media Great Again.
According to Mediaite and The Guardian, the ‘sweeping changes’ promised by the Ellisons involve a political purge.
Larry Ellison has reportedly been in backchannel talks with the White House regarding a ‘cleanse’ at CNN. The alleged hit list includes anchors Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar, whose coverage has frequently irritated the President.
The political fingerprints are everywhere.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that the Paramount bid is backed by financing from RedBird Capital and sovereign wealth funds, with support from Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners.
And of course, Paramount recently settled a lawsuit with Donald Trump over a 60 Minutes interview for a reported US$16 million.
The pitch to the White House is clear. Paramount offers a compliant, friendly news giant.
Unlike the Netflix deal, which splits the company and spins off the linear networks, the Paramount bid keeps CNN in the fold, potentially turning it into a network more palatable to Mar-a-Lago.
Will Ted Sarandos and Netflix take the WBD prize?
The Mar-a-Lago Blessing
For Zaslav, the choice was between the devil he knows in Wall Street skepticism and the deep blue sea of streaming dominance with Netflix.
He chose the streamer to escape the decline of linear TV. By ignoring Ellison, however, he has triggered a chaotic shareholder war fueled by Trump-sided capital.
We have a jilted suitor in Ellison who feels ‘unfairly treated’ by the board.
We have Zaslav, who ghosted his way into a Netflix marriage that might now be blocked.
And looming over it all is Trump, who has already voiced ‘antitrust concerns’ about the Netflix deal while praising the Ellisons as “great guys.”
As the dust settles, one lesson is clear. In the modern game of media thrones, sending a “u up?” text to David Zaslav is not enough.
You need the cash, the content, and apparently the blessing of the White House.