As Paramount, Comcast and Netflix prepare bids for Warner Bros. Discovery ahead of a Thursday deadline, speculation is growing about the role of Middle East wealth in the game-changing transaction.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged investments of $1 trillion in the U.S. economy at a White House visit Tuesday ahead of a formal dinner that will see Paramount CEO David Ellison in attendance. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts recently traveled to Saudi Arabia. The increasingly high-profile Doha Film Festival opens Thursday in Qatar.
Meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington, MBS said the opportunity for investment in the U.S. is “increasing more and more.” The visit was his first since the murder of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, an event that drew harsh condemnation from a wide swath of government officials, and a step-back from many companies in entertainment and beyond. Now, the tide seems to be turning back toward the Persian Gulf.
Elon Musk, Tim Cook, golfer Bryson DeChambeau and other notables will join Ellison at a black-tie dinner held in the Saudi royal’s honor, a person familiar with the guest list tells Deadline. Earlier Tuesday, Trump met with Cristiano Ronaldo, the soccer star who recently re-upped his $200 million-a-year contract with Saudi club Al-Nassr. Ronaldo was also on the guest list for the dinner.
A Variety report, citing anonymous sources, said a coalition involving Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, had formed in support of a forthcoming $71 billion bid by Paramount for WBD, which would be a notch higher than prior bids in the $60 billion-plus range.
A Paramount spokesperson called the report “categorically inaccurate” and said, “This is a confidential process, which we respect, and, as such, we will not be commenting until the process is over.”
Chatter about potential backers of a WBD bid highlight the increasing presence of Mideast money in the entertainment business. In one of the most notable deals, Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund, which has vast holdings across media, technology and sports, became a major stakeholder in the $55 billion transaction that will take the video game giant Electronic Arts private. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law whose business activities have ramped up in the Middle East of late, is also a participant in the EA deal.
Ellison’s donning a tux follows other conversations he and Paramount have had with a range of entities in the region. Nearly three years ago, longtime Paramount Skydance backer RedBird Capital formed a joint venture with Abu Dhabi-based International Media Investments, putting former NBC and CNN chief Jeff Zucker in charge of its investments in media and sports. Zuffa Boxing, a new circuit formed by Ari Emanuel’s TKO and entertainment firm Sela, will have its bouts streamed exclusively on Paramount+. Zuffa’s leadership team includes HE Turki Alalshikh chairman of the General Entertainment Authority and president of the Audi Boxing Federation.
The tempo of announcements has been accelerating. Disney is building a theme park in Abu Dhabi. Saudi-backed Arena SNK Studios just launched, with former Lionsgate exec Erik Feig at the helm of the film and TV entity as CEO and former Disney film chief Sean Bailey on the board of directors. With sports investments booming, the Saudis have bankrolled a challenger to the PGA Tour in LIV Golf, Qatar has hosted the World Cup.
Executive jets have been flying in both directions in recent weeks. Comcast’s Roberts traveled to Saudi Arabia to scope out the potential of building a theme park there. Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, chair of the Saudi Esports Federation and Saudi Games and Entertainment, met Tuesday with U.S. producers and executives at the Peninsula Hotels in Beverly Hills.
“It feels like a full-court press on Hollywood,” one attendee of the lunch told Deadline.
Amid the swirl of interest in Hollywood, one question is whether any such deal would be so great as to draw additional federal scrutiny, beyond antitrust concerns. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, chaired by the secretary of the treasury, assesses potential national security risks of foreign direct investment. While the president has cited the assessment to block transactions in the semiconductor and aerospace industries, lawmakers have sought greater scrutiny of foreign investment in other sectors. In 2016, they raised concerns over Chinese-owned Dalian Wanda’s acquisition of major American movie studios, including Legendary Entertainment and theater chains. And the committee also scrutinized TikTok’s Chinese ownership.
As for WBD, Paramount is still widely regarded as the one to beat in the chase for a few reasons. It is the only party in pursuit of the whole company, and Ellison was joined by his management team in a “reverse management presentation” on the Warner lot, outlining their vision for operating the WBD assets.
Comcast and Netflix, to this point, are only sizing up the studio-and streaming half of WBD, which has separately declared its intention to split into two companies by mid 2026 if an acquisition doesn’t occur before then. A full sale at a good price is a neater solution that it would be hard for the board to dismiss. President Trump favors the Ellisons. He has not in the past had kind words for Roberts, although Comcast is a donor to his new ballroom. Rep. Daryl Issa this week raised an objection to Netflix and HBO Max merging on antitrust grounds.
The resources of the Ellison family are considerable, as are their connections. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, David’s father, is the second richest person in the world. Already, Paramount has made three bids, the last at $23.50 a share. Each was rejected by the WBD board. A report in Axios said WBD had asked Paramount to increase its bid to $30 a share. That might be too much of a stretch for the Ellisons considering the shares were considerably lower pre-takeover speculation. But a $27 or $28? Maybe.
A rep for WBD did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment.
Ted Johnson contributed to this report..
