This year David Ellison managed to achieve Warner Bros. Discovery something WBD CEO David Zaslav has been fighting for more than three years: to dramatically increase the market value of the company that merged Discovery and Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. stock Discovery, founded in April 2022, reached an all-time high in 2025, up more than 170% year over year. As of Dec. 30, WBD's market capitalization was $71.8 billion, up from about $25 billion at the start of the year.
Rally Warner Bros. Discovery on Wall Street was instigated by Ellison: After his company Skydance Media was absorbed by Paramount Global, he aggressively targeted WBD's next acquisition—backed by billions from his father Larry Ellison—and sparked an M&A battle that caused big swings in WBD stock. Paramount Skydance And Netflix.
Netflix shares rose 51% in mid-2025 as the streaming leader continued to post strong growth and analysts continued to be optimistic about its future prospects. In October, amid continued rise in stock prices, Netflix conducted a 10-to-1 stock splitto make it more accessible. 22.3% as of December 30.
After Netflix announces $83 billion deal To buy Warner Bros. studios. and HBO Max business, investors were spooked by the prospect of deal uncertainty and a heavy debt load. However, Netflix shares ended the year up about 22%. Meanwhile, Paramount shareholders were enthusiastic about David Ellison's play for the company, but PSKY's share price fell as WBD repeatedly rejected Paramount's offer.
Comcast, which made an unsuccessful bid, proposed merging WBD's streaming and studio businesses with Comcast's related businesssaw its share price fall, closing down 17% for the year. Comcast subsidiary Versant (which includes cable networks such as CNBC, MS NOW and USA) will host its event on January 2nd. set to close. The goal of the Versant deal is to free NBC's broadcast and Peacock streaming businesses from ailing cable networks and convince investors that the newly streamlined Comcast is worth more.
The M&A drama surrounding Warner Bros. It's not over yet. David Ellison attempted a hostile takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, hoping to convince WBD shareholders that its $30 per share offer (which WBD's board of directors rejected) was better than Netflix's terms. Last week, Paramount Skydance updated its offer for WBD with some new provisions; among those Larry Ellison provided an “irrevocable $40.4 billion personal guarantee” to Paramount's all-cash bid for WBD.. The WBD board is expected to refuse as well, providing an official response in the next few days.
Will the Ellisons go further in their quest to take over Warner Bros. Discovery, not yet known. Please note that whoever ends up owning Warner Bros. Discovery, Zaslav will be able to make money on the sale: he is going to become a billionaire Given his stake in WBD stock, whether Netflix completes the deal or Paramount Skydance swoops in and poaches the entire company.
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