Hold up. Netflix didn’t just randomly decide to drop $82.7 billion on Warner Bros. Discovery. According to Bloomberg, the streaming service was aiming WAY higher. We’re talking Disney. Like, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY. Mickey Mouse, Marvel superheroes, Star Wars, Pixar, the theme parks, cruise ships, everything.
Netflix also looked at buying Fox and Electronic Arts before settling on Warner Bros. And the reason these massive deals died? Executive drama and cold feet about spending too much money. Classic.
Let’s talk about how wild a Netflix-Disney merger would have been. Netflix controlling Magic Kingdom? Netflix running Marvel? Netflix owning Star Wars? That’s not just changing streaming. That’s rewriting entertainment history.
What Actually Went Down With Warner Bros.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos met with President Trump at the White House in mid-November for over an hour talking about the Warner Bros. Discovery auction. Trump wanted the highest bidder. Sarandos argued Netflix wasn’t a monopoly and had lost subscribers recently.
It worked. December 5, Netflix beat Paramount with an $82.7 billion offer including debt. Sarandos called it a game-changer that would “accelerate business for decades” by mixing Netflix’s streaming power with Warner Bros.’ content production and HBO’s premium shows. Three hundred million Netflix subscribers getting access to everything Warner Bros. owns.
But drama is already brewing. Paramount’s preparing a hostile $108.4 billion counterbid. Warner Bros. needs to dump struggling cable networks. And here’s the big one: the Justice Department might block everything because of antitrust issues. Trump himself said the Netflix-Warner Bros. combo “could be a problem” and he’s involved in deciding if it happens.
Why Netflix Chickened Out on Disney
Two reasons killed the Disney dream: Netflix executives fighting with each other about whether it made sense, and serious panic about overpaying.
Think about what Netflix would have been buying. Theme parks. Cruise ships. Toy manufacturing. TV networks. Movie studios. That’s so far beyond Netflix’s streaming focus it’s ridiculous. The company built success being quick and experimental. Disney operates cruise ships. Those are completely different businesses.
Plus, Disney would have cost WAY more than $82.7 billion. The company’s worth is typically between $150-200 billion depending on stock prices. That’s massive debt Netflix would be taking on for businesses that have nothing to do with streaming.
Netflix executives apparently looked at deals like AOL buying Time Warner or Microsoft buying Nokia that completely destroyed shareholder value and said “nope, not doing that.”
Same thing happened with the Fox and Electronic Arts possibilities. Executives couldn’t agree, costs seemed too high, deals died.
What Netflix Saw in Disney
Obviously Disney’s valuable. Marvel generating billions. Star Wars printing money. Pixar making people cry with animated movies. Classic Disney characters that have been popular for literally a century. Theme parks worldwide packed with guests. Disney Plus competing directly with Netflix with over 100 million subscribers.
But Disney’s also complicated as hell. ABC network losing viewers. ESPN struggling with cord-cutting. Movie theaters challenged by streaming. Integrating all that into Netflix’s operation would be a nightmare.
The regulatory fight alone would be insane. Buying Disney would create so much market concentration that antitrust officials would lose their minds.
The Streaming Wars Are Getting Serious
Netflix considering buying Disney, Fox, and EA shows how intense streaming competition has become. Disney Plus, HBO Max, Paramount Plus, Peacock all pulling subscribers and content away from Netflix.
Every traditional media company now runs streaming services. Netflix’s dominance isn’t guaranteed anymore. Hence the willingness to spend tens of billions acquiring content libraries and production capabilities.
Whether the Warner Bros. deal succeeds or gets blocked, the fact that Netflix seriously considered buying DISNEY shows how much the industry has changed. Twenty years ago, the idea of a streaming service buying Disney would have been absurd. Now it’s apparently something Netflix executives actually discussed.
For Disney, this is wild validation. Netflix thinks Disney’s valuable enough to consider acquiring despite the massive price tag and integration chaos. That’s flattering and probably a little concerning for a company that likes controlling its own future.
Mickey Mouse almost had a Netflix logo next to him. Let that sink in.
