The Digester

Netflix walks away from Warner Bros deal and takes $2.8 billion breakup fee

Mar 6th 2026

Netflix said it walked away from the Warner Bros bidding war after Paramount outbid it, collected a $2.8 billion breakup fee, and will press forward with higher content spending and the same disciplined M&A approach.

  • Netflix abandoned its agreement to buy Warner Bros after Paramount Skydance raised its bid to $31 per share.
  • Paramount Skydance paid Netflix a $2.8 billion breakup fee once Warner Bros. Discovery terminated the Netflix deal.
  • CFO Spence Neumann said price was the deciding factor and the acquisition was never a must-have for Netflix.
  • Netflix insists the bidding outcome does not change its M&A strategy and it will remain disciplined on price.
  • Netflix plans to boost content spending to about $20 billion in 2026, a 10% increase from 2025.
  • The company forecasted 2026 revenue of $50.7 billion to $51.7 billion, a 31.5% operating margin target, and reported more than 325 million subscribers at the end of 2025.

Sources

variety.com