It's never been more critically or financially successful.??? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

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**DECEMBER 10, 2025**

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The proposed merger between Netflix and Warner Bros. has turned into a bidding war, with Paramount seeking a hostile takeover bid. Most stories about this will tell you about the behind the scenes jockeying for power: who at Netflix or Paramount is talking to whom at the White House, which Trump ally is being hired by whom. All of those stories are missing the fundamental question: Why does Warner Bros. need to merge with anyone? It's a company coming off a banner year and poised for more success. The story of the auctioning of
Warner Bros. says so much about our modern economy and why people feel trapped by it, so that's my story [link removed] today.

**-David Dayen, executive editor**

[link removed]

Netflix/Warner Bros./ParamountNet

Why Is Warner Bros. for Sale at All? [link removed]

The Golden Globe nominations came out [link removed] on Monday, and two films dominated:

**One Battle After Another** with nine nominations and

**Sinners** with seven. On the television side,

**The White
Lotus** led with six nominations.

These productions have something in common: They are all products of Warner Bros. Discovery [link removed], which has also dominated the box office this year. A record seven straight Warner Bros. releases [link removed] debuted with more than $40 million in receipts in their opening week this year, the most consistent run of success in movie history.

This all begs the question: Why did a critical darling and commercial juggernaut publicly auction itself off, and why is it now caught in a bidding war between Netflix, with which Warner Bros. agreed to a merger last week, and Paramount, which made a hostile takeover bid
[link removed] on Monday? What is a successful movie and streaming studio, whose finances are going to look

**better** once it sheds its dying cable channels as planned, so desperate for a new corporate parent?

Understanding why demonstrates the pathology of the modern economy, Wall Street's drive to consolidate, and why Americans feel helpless in an age of corporate power.

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