HBO Max is staying put even though Netflix is buying Warner Bros. Discovery. During an internal global town hall with staff, those on the call were told that “HBO Max will stay,” TheWrap has learned. The meeting took place Friday morning to address Netflix’s acquisition of the company.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav also admitted that the bidding war around the company was “more public of a process than we would’ve liked” during an internal global town hall with staff. Zaslav confirmed that Paramount was the first company to approach WBD about buying the company. “Because it was noisy and people heard about buying full company, others approached us about just buying studio and streaming,” he told staff. Zaslav then emphasized that the company did not know which direction to take until yesterday.
Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos also addressed the acquisition in a call with investors Friday morning. Though he didn’t explicitly say that HBO Max would remain intact, he emphasized that Warner Bros. would be operated as a standalone entity.
“HBO and HBO Max also provide a compelling, complimentary offering for consumers. We expect these businesses by joining forces, we are creating a stronger organization than either of us could have achieved alone,” Sarandos said.
After a contentious battle between Netflix, Paramount and Comcast, Netflix emerged as the winning buyer of WBD on Thursday night in a deal worth $82.7 billion. Netflix expects the transaction to close in 12 to 18 months. It will only go through after WBD divides the company into Warner Bros. and Discovery Global, a separation that’s expected to take place in the third quarter of 2026.
Additional reporting by Tess Patton and Drew Taylor.
