🎥 It is fascinating after Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos met at the White House with President Trump, he dropped his company’s bid for Warner Brothers Discovery, literally handing it to Paramount-Skydance, ending the month’s long saga.

💸 Either he understood the President would not allow it to happen, or he has great discipline in deal-making, or both. Either way, Netflix walked away with a $2.8b fee from WBD from walking away, which Paramount has already paid.

💼 This is a case in risk when considering the domestic regulatory environment and understanding what leveraging up debt means to a firm—a textbook and historic lesson in dealmaking.

This was originally a post on LinkedIn from February 28, 2026.