Netflix CEO Sarandos Criticizes Warner Bros. Bid Process as 'Irrational'

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has publicly addressed the company's withdrawal from bidding on Warner Bros. Discovery, characterizing Paramount's competing offer as 'irrational' and suggesting political pressure influenced the outcome.

In an interview with Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw, Sarandos stated: 'Unusual, yeah, unusual, irrational, whatever words you want to use in that. It'll be fascinating to see the next steps.' He expressed confidence in Netflix's future independent trajectory, suggesting the failed acquisition might ultimately prove advantageous.

The Netflix executive directly addressed speculation about President Trump's influence on Warner Bros. shareholders: 'It's a lot cheaper to make noise than it is to actually raise your bid. So they tried that path first. Once it was clear that we weren't in the CNN business, it was a lot less interesting. He didn't care that much more about our deal.'

Sarandos explained Netflix's decision to withdraw: 'We had a very tight range that we'd be willing to pay and made that offer back when we closed this deal. We hadn't moved much from that, except for moving to cash, which served to move the deal faster. I'm happy where we got in and happy where we got out. We knew right away when we got the notice on Thursday that they had a superior offer and the details of that deal. We knew exactly what we were going to do.'

The comments represent Sarandos's first public remarks since losing the bidding war to Paramount, which reportedly relied on political pressure tactics to secure the deal.