Netflix taking pole place to win the race for Warner Bros. Discovery despatched shockwaves by Hollywood, partially as a result of it was presumed that Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison had the help of President Donald Trump.
Now a number of sources inform The Hollywood Reporter that Netflix can also have obtained some kind of blessing by Trump, or no less than his ear. Insiders says that Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos spoke with the President within the final couple of weeks in a confab that lasted about two hours.
“We don’t focus on personal conferences that will or might not have occurred,” a White Home official advised THR. Netflix didn’t reply to a number of requests for touch upon Friday and over the weekend.
Whereas sources didn’t know what the 2 males mentioned, it does appear to level to an end result that led to Netflix feeling they’d a transparent sufficient runway to make a severe play for the historic studio. The streaming big made the successful bid for the David Zaslav-led WBD, after presents that exceeded a $28 share worth. That additionally meant agreeing to a $5.8 billion break up charge in case any deal falls by.
The $82.7 billion deal might want to navigate a posh regulatory surroundings. Ellison and his executives believed that their deal would have a neater path to approval due to his ties, and that of his father, Larry Ellison, to the White Home.
If Sarandos made a pitch of his personal, it could clarify why Trump has been quiet on the deal, an uncommon factor given how outspoken he’s, notably in terms of main media tales.
This may not be the primary time Sarandos has sat down with Trump. The 2 males had an extended dinner at Mar-a-Lago late final yr, with the chief recalling that each First Girl Melania Trump and Barron Trump had been Netflix followers. “We didn’t speak any store,” Sarandos stated in March.
The more moderen assembly, it appears, might have been a unique story.
Alex Weprin contributed to this report.