TOO RISKY

Warner Bros. Slaps Down Trump Pal’s Buyout Bid

The move may represent only a temporary reprieve in what critics have otherwise described as a creeping MAGA monopolization of the media sector.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s board has once again urged shareholders to rebuff the latest takeover bid by Paramount, controlled by President Donald Trump’s billionaire allies Larry and David Ellison. The board argues that the otherwise bullish offer relies too heavily on complex financing and does not represent a wise financial move for the group. “This aggressive transaction structure poses materially more risk for WBD and its shareholders” than a rival bid from Netflix, the board wrote in a message to shareholders on Wednesday. The Ellisons’ months-long efforts to acquire Warner Bros—which among other assets controls CNN, a news organization Trump has repeatedly railed against throughout his political career—comes amid ongoing concerns of a creeping MAGA takeover of the media sector. Critics have consistently raised concerns about changes in editorial policy and output at CBS following the Ellisons’ highly controversial acquisition of Paramount late last year, most notably effectively axing a 60 Minutes segment critical of the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration crackdown.