What Paramount doesn’t mention in its press release is that some of this cash is coming from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, as Axios reporter Sara Fischer points out. She also notes that per SEC filings, some of the cash comes from Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners. Kushner, of course, is the son-in-law to the President of the United States. In its press release this morning, Paramount also touts its high confidence “in achieving expeditious regulatory clearance for its proposed offer,” but cites objections that the European Union might have instead of mentioning the governmental connections it has stateside. “Despite Paramount submitting six proposals over the course of 12 weeks, WBD never engaged meaningfully with these proposals which we believe deliver the best outcome for WBD shareholders,” the company claims in its release. “Paramount has now taken its offer directly to WBD shareholders and its Board of Directors to ensure they have the opportunity to pursue this clearly superior alternative.”
President Trump has already indicated that he might make Netflix’s existing bid difficult. On the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors last night, cryptically offered that the purchase “could be a problem.” “Well, that’s got to go through a process, and we’ll see what happens,” the president said on the red carpet (per NBC News). “They (Netflix) have a very big market share. When they have Warner Bros., that share goes up a lot.” Trump also said he was going to consult “some economists” about the deal. “I’ll be involved in that decision, too,” which NBC reports would be a historical anomaly for a president.
That all being said, Trump still feels that Paramount and the Ellisons are not being deferential enough to him. This morning, the president blasted off a Truth Social missive against the Ellisons for allowing his new enemy and “low IQ traitor” Marjorie Taylor Greene to be interviewed by 60 Minutes last night. “THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP, who just paid me millions of Dollars for FAKE REPORTING about your favorite President, ME! Since they bought it, 60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE!” Trump posted. “Oh well, far worse things can happen.” That’s for sure.
