Fierce criticism Trump's son-in-law withdraws from Warner bidding war
Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, is pulling out of the bidding race for Warner Bros. His involvement in a Paramount bid had previously led to criticism.
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- Jared Kushner is withdrawing his investment firm Affinity Partners from Paramount's billion-euro bid for Warner Bros.
- His planned investment had sparked criticism in the USA due to its proximity to the presidential family.
- Warner preferred a lower offer from Netflix, while Paramount continued to court the group with the support of Arab state funds.
Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, is pulling out of the multi-billion dollar bidding war for the Hollywood group Warner Brothers.
His investment company Affinity Partners has decided to no longer participate in the bid by Warner rival Paramount, a spokesperson confirmed to the financial service Bloomberg.
According to him, Affinity wanted to contribute around 200 million US dollars to the total 108.4 billion dollar bid. Kushner's involvement had caused criticism in the US as it established a direct link between the presidential family and a potential Warner buyer.
While Netflix had success with Warner management with an almost 83 billion dollar bid for the studio and streaming business, Paramount is aiming for a complete takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery - including the news channel CNN. Trump himself said that CNN would have to change hands in the event of a possible sale, as the channel regularly makes critical comments about him.
Warner shareholders must decide by January
Paramount has recently been owned by the family of software billionaire Larry Ellison, a Trump supporter. Following the takeover of the Paramount channel CBS, there have already been personnel changes there.
The company now wants to approach Warner shareholders directly, who have until the beginning of January to decide on the offer. The planned participation of sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, which are contributing 24 billion dollars but do not want to have a say, has recently caused disagreement.