"Paramount had entered the bidding for Warner, with its $77.9 billion offer for all of Warner Bros. Discovery coming one working day after Netflix's $72 billion offer for the studio and HBO Max, as a seeming friend of the White House. CEO David Ellison has repeatedly highlighted his ties to Trump, with his father Larry a longtime Trump donor (and second-richest man alive)."
"CBS News, under Ellison, recently installed Bari Weiss, owner of independent news organization The Free Press and a prominent critic of progressive media culture, in a senior editorial role, a move widely read in Hollywood and Washington as gestures toward an anti-"woke" White House. Kushner's participation, as son-in-law to the President, reinforced that impression. His roughly $200 million equity commitment via his firm functioned, some analysts said, as a political signal as much as a financing tool."
"Paramount's hostile bid for Warner Bros. showed signs of unraveling just moments after President Donald Trump aired fresh grievances about the flagship newsmagazine 60 Minutes. Just hours after Trump's latest lashed out at CBS News, accusing the Paramount-owned network of treating him "far worse" since its new ownership took over earlier this year, Jared Kushner pulled his Affinity Partners private equity firm out of the Warner bid,"
Paramount's bid for Warner weakened after President Trump publicly criticized CBS News and its 60 Minutes program. Jared Kushner withdrew Affinity Partners from the Warner bid shortly after the criticism, removing a politically significant equity commitment. Paramount had proposed $77.9 billion for Warner Bros. Discovery, following a $72 billion offer from Netflix. CEO David Ellison's ties to Trump and CBS's hiring of Bari Weiss amplified perceptions of favorable regulatory treatment. Kushner's roughly $200 million commitment was perceived as both financing and a political signal. Trump's public distancing eroded the bid's perceived regulatory goodwill and strategic advantage.
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