{"id":2199729,"date":"2025-12-15T14:47:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T14:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2199729"},"modified":"2025-12-15T14:47:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T14:47:03","slug":"netflix-ceos-defend-warner-bros-deal-in-memo-to-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/netflix-ceos-defend-warner-bros-deal-in-memo-to-employees\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix CEOs Defend Warner Bros. Deal in Memo to Employees"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

\n\tTed Sarandos and Greg Peters, the co-CEOs of Netflix<\/a>, issued a memo to staffers that conveyed their belief that the company\u2019s deal to buy Warner Bros. and HBO Max will withstand a counterattack by David Ellison\u2019s Paramount Skydance and will clear regulatory hurdles.<\/p>\n

\n\tNetflix\u2019s megadeal to buy Warner Bros. studios, HBO and HBO Max<\/a>, with an enterprise value of $82.7 billion, was announced on Dec. 5. Three days later, Paramount Skydance went hostile, with Ellison announcing that the company was taking its $30\/share offer for all of WBD directly to shareholders. Paramount\u2019s current offer has a $108.4 billion enterprise value.<\/p>\n

\n\tRegarding Paramount\u2019s hostile bid, Sarandos and Peters, echoing comments they have made previously, said in the memo to employees, \u201cIt was entirely expected. But, we have a solid deal in place. It\u2019s great for our shareholders, great for consumers, and a strong way to create and protect jobs in the industry. We\u2019re confident we\u2019ll get it over the finish line \u2014 and we\u2019re genuinely excited about what\u2019s ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe memo to Netflix staff was disclosed in an SEC filing Monday<\/a>. The memo was released on Netflix\u2019s Take 5 blog, which \u201caims to give employees clarity and understanding around strategic bets\/issues, and a heads up on important news in roughly a five-minute read. Internal only,\u201d per the filing.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a Q&A in the note to employees, Sarandos and Peters answered this question: Some feel this is the end of Hollywood. What\u2019s our response to that?<\/em> The co-CEOs wrote: \u201cThis is something that we\u2019ve heard for a long time \u2014 including when we started the streaming business. Our stance then and now is the same\u2014we see this as a win for the entertainment industry, not the end of it. This deal is about growth: Warner Bros. brings businesses and capabilities we don\u2019t have, so there\u2019s no overlap or studio closures. We\u2019re strengthening one of Hollywood\u2019s most iconic studios, supporting jobs, and ensuring a healthy future for film and TV production.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe two CEOs reiterated that they feel \u201cconfident\u201d that Netflix will get the regulatory approvals that are needed to close the WB deal, as well as their pledge to keep Warner Bros. movies in theaters. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTheatrical is an important part of [the Warner Bros.] business and legacy, and we don\u2019t want to change what makes Warner Bros. so valuable. If this deal had happened two years ago, hits like \u2018Minecraft\u2019 and \u2018Superman\u2019 would still have premiered on the big screen as they did \u2014 and that\u2019s how we plan to keep it,\u201d according to the memo. \u201cWe haven\u2019t prioritized theatrical in the past because that wasn\u2019t our business at Netflix. When this deal closes, we will be in that business.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLooking forward, the co-CEOs wrote, \u201cWe\u2019ve got a small but mighty team of experts working on this so the rest of us can stay focused on the big 2026 ambitions we\u2019ve established for our business,\u201d Sarandos and Peters write. \u201cWe\u2019ve got huge potential still ahead of us \u2014 even before we factor in Warner Bros. \u2014 so our focus should remain on realizing that potential based on our organic growth. We know that\u2019s easier said than done with all the headlines and speculation, but continuing to deliver for our members is the best thing we can focus on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRead the full memo from Sarandos and Peters:<\/p>\n

\n\tOUR DEAL WITH WARNER BROS
<\/em><\/strong>By: Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos<\/p>\n

\n\tAs news around our deal with Warner Bros. continued this week, we wanted to keep you as informed as we can. Our position hasn\u2019t changed: we strongly believe that Netflix and Warner Bros. joining forces will offer consumers more choice and value, allow the creative community to reach even more audiences with our combined distribution, and fuel our long-term growth. We made this deal because their deep portfolio of iconic franchises, expansive library, and strong studio capabilities will complement\u2014not duplicate\u2014our existing business.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tThis is going to be a complex process over the next year or so and there\u2019s a lot we won\u2019t be able to share, but we did want to give you our thoughts on some of the most pressing questions we\u2019ve heard since we connected last week.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tHow do we feel about Paramount\u2019s hostile bid?<\/strong> It was entirely expected. But, we have a solid deal in place. It\u2019s great for our shareholders, great for consumers, and a strong way to create and protect jobs in the industry. We\u2019re confident we\u2019ll get it over the finish line\u2014and we\u2019re genuinely excited about what\u2019s ahead.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tAre we confident regulators will approve?<\/strong> We believe in this deal\u2014in the value it creates\u2014 and we\u2019re confident we\u2019ll get the approvals we need to make it happen. The fundamentals are clear: this deal is pro-consumer, pro-innovation, pro-worker, pro-creator, and pro-growth. Also, if you look at it through the lens of Nielsen data, even after combining with Warner Bros., our view share would only move from 8% to 9% in the US\u2014still well behind YouTube (13%) and a potential Paramount\/WBD combination (14%). We believe the facts speak for themselves, and we\u2019re fully prepared to put ourselves in a strong position for approval.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>

\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tWill we preserve theatrical releases as part of WBD\u2019s distribution model?<\/strong> Yes\u2014we\u2019re fully committed to releasing Warner Bros. movies in theaters, just as they do today. Theatrical is an important part of their business and legacy, and we don\u2019t want to change what makes Warner Bros. so valuable. If this deal had happened two years ago, hits like Minecraft and Superman would still have premiered on the big screen as they did\u2014and that\u2019s how we plan to keep it. We haven\u2019t prioritized theatrical in the past because that wasn\u2019t our business at Netflix. When this deal closes, we will be in that business.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tSome feel this is the end of Hollywood. What\u2019s our response to that?<\/strong> This is something that we\u2019ve heard for a long time\u2014including when we started the streaming business. Our stance then and now is the same\u2014we see this as a win for the entertainment industry, not the end of it. This deal is about growth: Warner Bros. brings businesses and capabilities we don\u2019t have, so there\u2019s no overlap or studio closures. We\u2019re strengthening one of Hollywood\u2019s most iconic studios, supporting jobs, and ensuring a healthy future for film and TV production.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tWhat\u2019s next? <\/strong>We\u2019ve got a small but mighty team of experts working on this so the rest of us can stay focused on the big 2026 ambitions we\u2019ve established for our business. We\u2019ve got huge potential still ahead of us\u2014even before we factor in Warner Bros.\u2014so our focus should remain on realizing that potential based on our organic growth. We know that\u2019s easier said than done with all the headlines and speculation, but continuing to deliver for our members is the best thing we can focus on.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tWhere is the best place to follow along?<\/strong> As a reminder, Take 5 is for employees only. We\u2019ve launched a public site as our source of truth for external audiences\u2014which will be updated further\u2014and it\u2019s a resource you can share with friends and family who might have their own questions. You can also listen to our UBS webcast from earlier this week.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\t-Greg and Ted<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source variety.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, the co-CEOs of Netflix, issued a memo to staffers that conveyed their belief that the company\u2019s deal to buy Warner Bros. and HBO Max will withstand a counterattack by David Ellison\u2019s Paramount Skydance and will clear regulatory hurdles. Netflix\u2019s megadeal to buy Warner Bros. studios, HBO and HBO Max, with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2199730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[23191,328922],"class_list":["post-2199729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-netflix","tag-warner-bros-discovery"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Netflix-CEOs-Defend-Warner-Bros-Deal-in-Memo-to-Employees.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2199729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2199731,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199729\/revisions\/2199731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2199730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2199729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2199729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2199729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}