Usha Haley

Money Moves

Providing expert commentary on political influence over merger review

In late 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) put itself in play, triggering a rare open bidding war over a century-old Hollywood studio and one of the world's most valuable content libraries. After months of private and public offers from Netflix, Paramount Skydance and Comcast, WBD's board agreed on December 5, 2025 to sell its studios and streaming arm—including HBO, DC, and the Warner Bros. film and TV operations—to Netflix in a $72 billion cash‑and‑stock deal, leaving its cable networks such as CNN outside the transaction.

Updated Jan 6