Netflix CEO Shares His Side Of Things About Bailing Warner Bros Purchase

March 2

When Netflix Inc. dropped out of the bidding for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. on Feb. 26, the news came as a surprise to many in Hollywood.

Netflix had agreed to buy Warner Bros.’ studios and HBO Max streaming business in December and co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos had done a string of press appearances and meetings talking about the deal, including at the White House.

In his first interview since abandoning the pursuit, Sarandos told Bloomberg News the decision to drop out had actually been made earlier, based on various bidding scenarios Netflix had worked out in advance.

“We knew right away, when we got the notice on Thursday that they had a superior offer and the details of that deal,” Sarandos said. “We knew exactly what we were going to do.”

Rival bidder Paramount Skydance Corp. is borrowing tens of billions of dollars to swallow a much larger company — debt that will force CEO David Ellison to cut $16 billion in costs and eliminate thousands of jobs, according to Sarandos.

“It would be less production, less people working,” he said.

Netflix’s proposed acquisition drew a lot of pushback from Hollywood labor unions, politicians and entertainment industry luminaries like director James Cameron, in part due to the company’s historical lack of support for movie theaters. But Sarandos said the conversations he’s had with film distributors over the past few months will likely lead to more Netflix pictures in cinemas.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-01/netflix-s-co-ceo-explains-why-he-quit-the-warner-bros-fight