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The Netflix Killer Non-Acquisition Theory

As its Warner Bros. deal gets increasingly complicated, some on Wall Street are wondering whether Netflix’s secondary motive is to poison the well for Paramount Skydance by running the clock while David Zaslav splits WBD in two. “Buying off the competition for two years,” said one person close to the action, “is good business all day long.”

Ted Sarandos
Of course, Netflix firmly rejects this notion. In his interview with my partner Matt Belloni, Sarandos said that Netflix and WBD are already “deep in the process” with both the D.O.J. and European regulators, and both companies have made their H.S.R. filings. “Everything is moving along the way it’s supposed to,” Ted said. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
William D. Cohan
February 22, 2026

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There’s a new theory making the rounds on Wall Street that Netflix doesn’t entirely care whether it winds up with Warner Bros. or not—that its true aim is to prevent Paramount Skydance from getting the company. Sure, Netflix could spend years and hundreds of millions of dollars (not to mention a potential $5.8 billion breakup fee) fighting the government over whether the deal violates the Sherman Antitrust Act, only to lose in court—just as Penguin Random House lost its legal battle to acquire Simon & Schuster in 2022. But in the meantime, it will have hoovered up whatever intellectual property it can from its association with Warners, while giving David Zaslav the time he needs to complete the spinoff of Global Networks—a crucial lure for PSKY, even as it continues to insist the equity of Global Networks is worthless.