Netflix Walks Away From Warner Bros. Discovery Deal After Ted Sarandos’ White House Visit
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos arrives for meetings at the White House in Washington, Feb. 26, 2026. Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
Hours after meetings in Washington, Netflix pulls the plug on its bid for WBD.
In a dramatic turn that caps weeks of escalating political and financial tension, Netflix has officially abandoned its bid to acquire key assets from Warner Bros. Discovery — just hours after co-CEO Ted Sarandos visited the White House.
Sarandos arrived in Washington Thursday afternoon for meetings related to Netflix’s proposed transaction involving Warner Bros. Discovery’s studios and streaming businesses. While speculation swirled that the visit might include direct talks with President Donald Trump, a White House official clarified that Sarandos met with staff members, not the president.
The optics, however, were impossible to ignore.
Days earlier, Trump had publicly demanded that Netflix remove board member Susan Rice — the former U.N. ambassador — or “pay the consequences.” The post followed pressure from conservative activist Laura Loomer, who urged the administration to block the Netflix–Warner merger outright. Rice had previously criticized institutions that she argued were appeasing Trump, adding a political undertone to what had largely been framed as a high-stakes business transaction.
As Sarandos’ White House visit unfolded, Warner Bros. Discovery issued a statement signaling that a revised offer from Paramount Skydance appeared to constitute a “superior proposal” under the language of its existing agreement with Netflix. That designation would have given Netflix four business days to improve its bid.
Instead, Netflix walked.
Shortly after Sarandos departed the White House, the streamer confirmed it would not attempt to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer.
“The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” Netflix said in a statement. “However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid.”
The decision effectively ends Netflix’s pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery — at least for now — and shifts momentum squarely toward Paramount Skydance.
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The collapse of the deal marks a significant moment in the evolving media consolidation landscape. Netflix had framed its proposed acquisition as a strategic expansion that would marry its global distribution scale with Warner’s deep IP library and HBO’s prestige brand. The company also pushed back against antitrust narratives, citing Nielsen data showing its share of total television consumption sits in the single digits.
Still, regulatory scrutiny from the Department of Justice and mounting political noise complicated the path forward. Even if Sarandos’ White House visit did not include a direct meeting with Trump, the symbolism of Washington’s involvement in the deal’s final hours underscores how blurred the line between media consolidation and political power has become.
For Warner Bros. Discovery, the next move appears clearer. With Netflix out of the picture, Paramount Skydance’s bid now takes center stage — though regulatory hurdles remain.
For Netflix, the withdrawal signals discipline over scale-at-any-cost. In walking away rather than overpaying in a bidding war, the company is betting that long-term capital allocation strategy outweighs short-term expansion pressure.
The streaming battlefield remains volatile. But one thing is certain: the most consequential media deal of the year just ended not with a signature — but with a statement.
