Netflix (NFLX) has announced plans to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) for an enterprise value of about $82.7 billion, adding the Warner Bros. film and television studios, HBO, and HBO Max to its portfolio.
The agreement marks the latest turn in a company that has been passed between corporate owners for more than 50 years.
Warner’s modern ownership changes began in 1969, when Kinney National purchased Warner Bros.–Seven Arts and later rebranded the business as Warner Communications.
In 1990, Warner Communications merged with Time Inc., forming the first iteration of Time Warner and combining film, cable networks, magazines, and music under one banner.
Another milestone came in 1996, when Time Warner acquired Turner Broadcasting, adding CNN, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, Hanna-Barbera, and Turner’s classic film library.
The company underwent its most famous deal in 2001, when AOL acquired Time Warner in a then-record-setting merger valued at $182 billion. By 2003, the AOL name was removed as the dot-com bust reshaped the company. Throughout the 2000s, Time Warner streamlined itself—spinning off Warner Music Group in 2004, separating Time Warner Cable and AOL in 2009, and divesting Time Inc. in 2014.
AT&T (T) entered the picture in 2018, purchasing Time Warner for $85 billion and rebranding it as WarnerMedia. That structure lasted until 2022, when AT&T spun off WarnerMedia and merged it with Discovery to create Warner Bros. Discovery.
Now, it’s Netflix’s turn to take control as Warner begins yet another chapter—its fourth major transition in half a century—as the streaming giant aims to reshape its long-term content strategy.