Ancora Holdings has built a $200mn stake and is backing Paramount’s richer rival bid, raising the prospect of a proxy fight over the future of one of Hollywood’s biggest media groups.
Activist hedge fund Ancora Holdings has built a roughly $200 million (€170mn) stake in Warner Bros Discovery and is preparing to oppose a proposed sale of the company’s film and television studios to Netflix, according to media reports. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Ancora’s plans.
The move adds a fresh layer of uncertainty to the high-stakes takeover battle that has surrounded the Hollywood giant for months, where Netflix and Paramount Skydance are competing bidders.
Ancora lines up against Netflix bid
According to several reports, Ancora increased its stake in Warner Bros Discovery ahead of a potential proxy fight with the company’s board.
The hedge fund is expected to argue that Warner’s directors failed to adequately engage with a higher competing offer from David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance.
Netflix has put around $82.7bn (€70.3bn) on the table for the studio assets. Paramount’s rival proposal offers $108.4bn (€92.1bn).
Warner’s board has so far favoured Netflix’s bid, citing greater value certainty, stronger financing, and a clearer path through regulators, according to earlier reports.
The Netflix offer would carve out Warner’s core studio and streaming operations, including HBO Max, while separating parts of the legacy cable news business, a design backers say helps de-risk the transaction compared with a full-company takeover.
Paramount, Trump and the CBS backlash
After several of its offers were rejected by Warner Bros, Paramount Skydance responded with a more aggressive, shareholder-focused competing bid, including sweeteners aimed at neutralising Netflix’s advantages.
Those include an offer to cover the reported $2.8bn (€2.35bn) termination fee Warner would owe Netflix if it switched horses, plus a “ticking fee” — additional cash paid to Warner shareholders for each quarter the deal is delayed. That latter fee is reported at $0.25 (€0.21) per share, or $650mn (€546mn) per quarter.
Paramount’s renewed offensive has also played out against a politically charged backdrop at its subsidiary CBS, with critics alleging the company has sought to appease President Donald Trump and his allies as it navigated regulatory scrutiny.
Paramount agreed in mid-2025 to pay $16mn (€13.4mn) to settle Trump’s lawsuit linked to a “60 Minutes” interview.
Critics have also pointed to the political connections of the Skydance leadership, noting that David Ellison — the company’s CEO and son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison — has longstanding ties to Donald Trump’s political circle. The elder Ellison is a prominent Republican donor and supporter of the president.
Recently, CBS News has been roiled by a series of decisions under its Ellison-backed editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, a high-profile hire announced after Paramount agreed to acquire Weiss’s media start-up The Free Press.
Weiss’s arrival has been accompanied by newsroom anxiety about editorial independence, including concerns that leadership choices were designed to reassure regulators and political actors during deal-making.
What Ancora is trying to achieve
Ancora is known as an activist investor — a type of hedge fund that buys significant stakes in companies in order to push for changes in strategy, management, or major transactions.
Ancora is said to support Paramount’s proposal and could launch a proxy fight if Warner’s board does not reconsider the competing bid.
The hedge fund also plans to continue buying Warner shares, and a shareholder vote on the Netflix deal is expected in early spring, setting the stage for a potentially contentious battle over the future of one of Hollywood’s most storied studios.
