Business & Media Markets

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Media Giant Mulls Sale

Warner Bros. Discovery said yesterday it is weighing a full or partial sale after receiving unsolicited interest. The news comes roughly four months after the conglomerate announced plans to split its struggling cable networks from its more profitable studio and streaming arms, creating two publicly traded companies. The HBO and CNN parent company did not disclose potential buyers, but Skydance Media founder David Ellison has reportedly expressed interest. Ellison, the son of Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, acquired CBS owner Paramount for roughly $8B in August, forming Paramount Skydance. He also bought conservative news startup The Free Press for about $150M this month. Streaming company Netflix and NBC owner Comcast are reportedly interested parties as well. Explore how the media industry has consolidated over the last quarter-century here. Warner Bros. Discovery said it will continue working toward splitting the company by mid-2026 as it evaluates offers. Separately, the company yesterday raised prices for HBO Max streaming plans. Shares closed up 11%.

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? Hollywood's big bidding war

Data: Financial Modeling Prep. Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios A trio of Hollywood power players submitted bids to buy all or part of Warner Bros. Discovery yesterday, launching a dramatic and historic media merger fight, Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer writes. Why it matters: In a hyper-competitive streaming environment, scale matters. WBD includes the nation's top-performing movie studio this year (Warner Bros. Pictures), a prestige streamer (HBO Max) and a major news network (CNN). ? Zoom in: WBD's board set a deadline for takeover bids that expired yesterday and received three different propositions, sources confirmed to Axios. Paramount, which already owns a top movie studio (Paramount Pictures), a major streamer (Paramount+), a broadcaster (CBS) and a slew of cable networks, has submitted a bid for all of WBD, including its cable channels like CNN and TBS. Netflix — which doesn't own a movie studio or TV networks, but has one of the largest subscription streaming bases in the world — submitted a bid solely for WBD's streaming and studio businesses. Comcast, which also owns a top movie studio in Universal, similarly is vying solely for WBD's streaming and studios businesses. Between the lines: President Trump is seen as favoring a Paramount bid over one by Comcast, given his alliance with Paramount CEO David Ellison's father Larry Ellison — and his public disdain for Comcast boss Brian Roberts. Keep reading.

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? Stat du jour

Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios

Eli Lilly reached a market valuation of $1 trillion in trading yesterday, becoming the first health care company and only non-tech company other than Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (counting Tesla as tech) in the trillion-dollar club. Since the launch of its flagship obesity drug, Zepbound, two years ago, Lilly's shares have risen more than 75%, Axios' Jeffrey Cane writes. Go deeper.

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Young investors on the clock

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

While blue-collar workers try to reclaim pensions, young Americans are increasingly planning for retirement by investing in the stock market while putting off homeownership, Axios markets reporter Madison Mills writes. By the numbers: About a third of 25-year-olds have investment accounts today, a sixfold increase from a decade ago. ? Financial assets and investments are "taking a bigger share" of the wealth picture for young people, says George Eckerd, research director at JPMorgan Chase Institute. Zoom in: While stocks can be volatile, housing values have (mostly) remained strong. ? Homeownership accounts for nearly half of Americans' wealth, and a home is the average American's most valuable asset. Reality check: The barriers to homeownership keep rising, while investing has never been easier or cheaper. Trading doesn't require credit checks, brokers, paperwork or a huge down payment — just a few clicks from your phone and a few hundred dollars. What to watch: It may not be that young people have abandoned housing as a wealth builder; it's just unaffordable right now, Eckerd says. That could change as interest rates fall. Go deeper.

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Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. studio and streaming business for $72 billion

NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix struck a deal Friday to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max, in a $72 billion deal that would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.

https://apnews.com/article/netflix-warner-acquisition-studio-hbo-streaming-f4884402cadfd07a99af0c8e4353bd83?

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Paramount goes hostile in bid for Warner Bros., challenging a $72 billion offer by Netflix

NEW YORK (AP) — Paramount on Monday launched a hostile takeover offer for Warner Bros. Discovery, initiating a potentially bruising battle with rival bidder Netflix to buy the company behind HBO, CNN and a famed movie studio along with the power to reshape much of the nation’s entertainment landscape.

https://apnews.com/article/paramount-warner-bros-discovery-netflix-trump-347540ae7a4f83fced833fe882f25680?

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Warner Bros recommends investors reject Paramount’s offer in favor of Netflix’s

NEW YORK (AP) — Warner Bros. Discovery is recommending its shareholders reject an unsolicited buyout offer from Paramount Skydance in favor of a rival bid from Netflix it said will better serve their interests and the entertainment company’s audiences.

https://apnews.com/article/warner-bros-paramount-skydance-netflix-d025a585f7a77cb9d8b066e65576101f?

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Ellisons' media power test

Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photos: Chris Kleponis and Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Once the dealmaking dust settles, the father and son duo of Larry and David Ellison will face an even bigger obstacle: proving they can run a sprawling media empire, Axios' Christine Wang writes. The Ellisons' portfolio spans CBS News, Paramount Pictures, and a piece of TikTok U.S. — and if they ultimately win the battle for Warner Bros. Discovery, could add CNN and HBO. Paramount has already cut splashy deals, including UFC rights, after closing its merger with Skydance. ?️ The big picture: There are plenty of difficult macro trends to navigate, including falling linear TV ad revenue, heavy spending on streaming, fierce competition for costly live sports rights, and a domestic box office that hasn't returned to pre-pandemic highs. Keep reading.

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> US stock markets continue decline Friday (S&P 500 -1.3%, Dow -1.0%, Nasdaq -1.6%) on weak February job numbers, concern over fallout from Iran war (More)

> Media conglomerate Axel Springer to acquire Telegraph Media Group for nearly $770M (More)

> Investment platform Robinhood debuts publicly listed fund allowing retail investors to buy into a portfolio of privately held startups; shares fall 16% on first day of trading (More)

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👩‍💻 Anthropic pulls ahead

Data: Ramp. Chart: Madison Mills/Axios Anthropic passed OpenAI in business adoption in April for the first time, Madison Mills reports from Ramp's latest AI Index. 📈 By the numbers: Anthropic adoption among businesses using Ramp, an expense management tool, rose 3.8%, to 34.4% overall. OpenAI adoption fell 2.9%, to 32.3%. 🤖 It's a notable plot twist in the AI world, where OpenAI was once viewed as the category leader. Yet OpenAI remains a giant consumer brand — and has said that it's on pace to generate more revenue than Anthropic this year. An OpenAI spokesperson tells Axios: "We are driving enterprise transformation at scale. These are not engagements where customers pay with a credit card," referring to how Ramp acquires its data. Go deeper.

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⚡️Deal to watch: Utility mega-merger

Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios

America's biggest utility company, Florida-based NextEra, is near a deal to combine with Richmond-based Dominion Energy in what the Financial Times says would be "one of the largest deals of all time." The announcement could come as soon as tomorrow, The Wall Street Journal reports. Why it matters: The merger would create a $400 billion behemoth at a time of roaring demand for electricity to power AI data centers. NextEra has announced ambitious plans to generate power for data centers, including through partnerships with Google. Dominion is one of two electricity providers in Loudoun County, home of Data Center Alley. Keep reading: WSJ gift link ... FT gift link.

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• 🔌 U.S. power giants NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy announced plans to merge, marking the modern AI era's largest electricity deal by far and creating what the companies called the "world's largest regulated electric utility." Go deeper.