Feb 26 (Reuters) – Netflix on Thursday said it would not raise offer for Warner Bros Discovery after the coveted Hollywood studio said Paramount Skydance’s revised $31-a-share offer was superior to its existing deal with the streaming giant.
Here is a timeline from the founding of Time Inc and Warner Bros to the company’s latest breakup and potential sale.
Date Event
1923 Warner Bros was founded by brothers Harry,
Albert, Sam and Jack Warner as a film studio in
Hollywood. It revolutionized cinema with the
introduction of synchronized sound in films.
1969 Kinney National Company, a conglomerate that
later transitioned into media, buys Warner
Bros-Seven Arts and later spins off its
non-media businesses.
1972 HBO is founded by Charles Dolan with backing
from Time. It was the first U.S.
subscription-based cable network, offering
uncut, commercial-free movies and live sports,
pioneering premium cable television.
1990 Time Inc merges with Warner Communications in a
$14 billion deal, hailed as a “marriage of
content and distribution”, creating Time
Warner, then the largest media company in the
world.
1996 Time Warner merges with Turner Broadcasting,
gaining Cartoon Network, CNN, TNT and a vast
film library of classic films.
2000 Time Warner merges with AOL, forming AOL Time
Warner, the largest merger in history at the
time, aiming to marry traditional and digital
media.
2002 AOL Time Warner merger begins to unravel as
AOL’s value collapses with the launch of an SEC
investigation, prompted by allegations of
accounting irregularities and inflated revenue
reports at AOL.
2003 CEO Steve Case resigns from AOL Time Warner.
2004 Time Warner sells Warner Music to a private
equity group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. for $2.6
billion.
2009 Time Warner fully spins off Time Warner Cable,
which had already been partially separated in
2007, ending its role in cable distribution.
2009 Time Warner spins off AOL.
2013 Time Warner spins off Time, its magazine
division, which includes Time, People, Fortune
and Sports Illustrated, marking its formal exit
from publishing.
2016 AT&T announces acquisition of Time Warner for
$85 billion.
2018 AT&T completes its acquisition of Time Warner
after regulator approval, renaming it
WarnerMedia.
2021 AT&T announces it will spin off WarnerMedia and
merge it with Discovery Inc to create a new
standalone media company.
2022 WarnerMedia and Discovery complete their merger
in a $43 billion deal.
June 9, 2025 Warner Bros Discovery announces it will
separate into two companies — one focusing on
streaming and studios businesses, while the
second will house its cable TV assets.
October 21, Warner Bros Discovery’s board rejects a
2025 Paramount Skydance offer of nearly $60 billion,
or $24 per share, a source familiar with the
matter exclusively tells Reuters. The company
says it is weighing a potential sale amid
interest from several suitors.
November 18, Warner Bros Discovery’s board wants Paramount
2025 Skydance to sweeten its bid to $30 per share,
valuing the company at $74.34 billion, Axios
reports.
November 21, Warner Bros Discovery receives preliminary
2025 buyout bids from Paramount Skydance, Comcast
and Netflix — who were asked to improve their
offers.
December 1, Warner Bros Discovery receives a second round
2025 of bids, including a mostly cash offer from
Netflix.
December 4, Paramount Skydance accuses Warner Bros
2025 Discovery of running an unfair sale process
that favors Netflix over other bidders, CNBC
reports, citing a letter sent by the newly
merged media company.
December 5, Netflix is in exclusive talks to
2025 buy Warner Bros Discovery’s film and television
studios along with its streaming assets after
offering $28 per share, a source says.
December 5, Netflix agrees to buy Warner Bros Discovery’s
2025 film and TV studios and streaming division for
$72 billion, or $27.75 per share.
December 9, Paramount Skydance makes a hostile bid for
2025 Warner Bros Discovery in a deal valued at
$108.4 billion or $30 per share.
December 17, Warner Bros Discovery’s board rejects Paramount
2025 Skydance’s hostile $108.4 billion bid, saying
it failed to provide adequate financing
assurances.
December 23, Paramount Skydance amends its offer to buy
2025 Warner Bros Discovery to include a $40.4
billion personal guarantee from Larry Ellison.
January 7, Warner Bros Discovery rejects Paramount
2026 Skydance’s amended hostile bid despite Larry
Ellison’s guarantee.
January 12, Paramount Skydance files lawsuit to force
2026 Warner Bros Discovery to disclose details of
its deal with Netflix and plans to nominate
directors to Warner Bros Discovery’s board.
January 20, Netflix amends its bid to an all‑cash offer for
2026 Warner Bros Discovery’s studio and streaming
units and secures unanimous approval from the
Warner Bros board without increasing the $82.7
billion purchase price.
January 22, Paramount Skydance extends its hostile tender
2026 offer for Warner Bros Discovery to February 20,
seeking more time to win investors.
February 3, U.S. senators grill Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos
2026 at a hearing over how the company’s acquisition
of Warner Bros Discovery would affect
competition in the entertainment industry.
February 5, U.S. President Donald Trump says he will stay
2026 out of the bidding war for Warner Bros
Discovery, a reversal from his comments late
last year.
February 10, Paramount Skydance revises its $30-per-share
2026 all-cash offer for Warner Bros, adding a
25-cent-per-share fee for every quarter the
transaction does not close beyond December 31,
2026. Paramount also says it will fund the $2.8
billion termination fee Warner Bros owes
Netflix if the deal falls through.
February 17, Warner Bros rejects Paramount’s revised bid and
2026 gives the Hollywood Studio seven days to see if
it can come up with a better deal to buy the
owner of HBO Max and the “Harry Potter”
franchise.
February 24, Warner Bros Discovery says it is considering a
2026 sweetened bid from Paramount Skydance without
disclosing the value of the deal.
February 24, Warner Bros Discovery opens the
2026 door to Paramount after its CEO, David Ellison,
raises the offer to $31 per share.
February 26, Netflix refuses to raise its offer
2026 for Warner Bros after the coveted Hollywood
studio said Paramount Skydance’s revised
$31-a-share offer was superior to its existing
deal with the streaming giant.
(Reporting by Kritika Lamba, Meghana Khare, Anhata Rooprai, and Arnav Mishra in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Manya Saini and Sneha S K; Editing by Leroy Leo, Arun Koyyur, Shinjini Ganguli, Pooja Desai, Tasim Zahid and Maju Samuel)
