US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is teaming up with fellow Trump ally Larry Ellison and sovereign companies from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi to fund a Paramount Skydance bid to take over Warner Bros. Discovery, in a challenge to Netflix’s contested deal.

Netflix shocked the industry last week by announcing it had sealed an agreement to buy the Warner Bros. studio, drawing bitter reactions from voices in Hollywood worried about the future of their industry. Unlike Netflix’s offer, Paramount’s latest bid includes the buyout of cable channels such as CNN, TNT, TBS and Discovery — which would be added to its group of TV assets like CBS, MTV and Comedy Central.

“We’re really here to finish what we started,” said Paramount chief David Ellison — whose father Larry is the world’s second-richest man — in an interview with CNBC on Monday, as Paramount launched its sixth bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery since the bidding war with Netflix began in September.

A regulatory document released Monday stated that one of the backers of Paramount’s $30-a-share offer was Affinity Partners, an investment firm run by Kushner, who helped broker the Gaza ceasefire and is involved in the Ukraine peace talks.

Asked about the bidding war on Monday, Trump said neither party was “friends of mine” and that he wanted “to do what’s right.” He added that he had not spoken to Kushner about the Paramount bid.

On Sunday, before Paramount........

© The Times of Israel