Kushner’s Affinity Partners exits Paramount bid for Warner Bros. Discovery
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Jared Kushner’s firm Affinity Partners has dropped out of Paramount Skydance‘s hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
“With two strong competitors vying to secure the future of this unique American asset, Affinity has decided no longer to pursue the opportunity,” an Affinity spokesperson said in a statement.
“The dynamics of the investment have changed significantly since we initially became involved in October,” the spokesperson said. “We continue to believe there is a strong strategic rationale for Paramount’s offer.”
Kushner is the son-in-law of President Donald Trump.
Affinity’s role in Paramount’s hostile bid came to light on Dec. 8, when Paramount announced an all-cash, $30 per share offer for all of WBC.
The offer came days after streaming giant Netflix said it had reached a deal to buy WBD’s film studio and streaming service HBO Max. Warner Bros. plans to spin out Discovery Global, which includes a large portfolio of pay TV networks, including CNN and TNT.
Trump last week said Netflix’s proposed deal, which requires regulatory approval, “could be a problem” because of how much market share Netflix would end up with.
Trump said he will be involved in the process of approving the deal.
The monetary value of Affinity’s role in Paramount’s bid was not disclosed in a filing last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Paramount.
However, that SEC filing said that in addition to commitments from Affinity and RedBird Capital Partners, there was a $1 billion commitment from Tencent, and an “aggregate $24 billion commitment from three sovereign wealth funds from” the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi.
CNBC has asked Affinity about the status of the Gulf states’ commitment in light of Affinity’s withdrawal from the bid.
Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/16/kushner-affinity-paramount-wbd-netflix.html