Netflix <NFLX.O> has agreed to buy Warner Bros Discovery’s <WBD.O> TV and film studios and streaming division for $72 billion in a deal that could give it access to one of Hollywood’s most valuable libraries.
Here’s a timeline from the founding of Time Inc and Warner Bros to the company’s latest breakup and potential sale.
| Date | Event |
| 1922 | Time Inc was founded by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden to house Time magazine, a weekly news publication that made world affairs accessible to the average reader. The first issue of Time magazine was published in March 1923. |
| 1923 | Warner Bros was founded by brothers Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner as a film studio in Hollywood. It revolutionized cinema with the introduction of synchronized sound in films. |
| 1969 | Kinney National Company, a conglomerate that later transitioned into media, buys Warner Bros-Seven Arts and later spins off its non-media businesses. |
| 1972 | HBO is founded by Charles Dolan with backing from Time. It was the first U.S. subscription-based cable network, offering uncut, commercial-free movies and live sports, pioneering premium cable television. |
| 1990 | Time Inc merges with Warner Communications in a $14 billion deal, hailed as a “marriage of content and distribution,” creating Time Warner, then the largest media company in the world. |
| 1996 | Time Warner merges with Turner Broadcasting, gaining Cartoon Network, CNN, TNT and a vast classic film library. |
| 2000 | Time Warner merges with AOL, forming AOL Time Warner, the largest merger in history at the time, aiming to merge traditional and digital media. |
| 2002 | AOL Time Warner merger begins to unravel as AOL’s value collapses with the launch of an SEC investigation, prompted by allegations of accounting irregularities and inflated revenue reports at AOL. |
| 2003 | CEO Steve Case resigns from AOL Time Warner. |
| 2004 | Time Warner sells Warner Music to a private equity group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. for $2.6 billion. |
| 2009 | Time Warner fully spins off Time Warner Cable, which had already been partially separated in 2007, ending its role in cable distribution. |
| 2009 | Time Warner spins off AOL. |
| 2013 | Time Warner spins off Time, its magazine division, which includes Time, People, Fortune and Sports Illustrated, marking its formal exit from publishing. |
| 2016 | AT&T announces acquisition of Time Warner for $85 billion. |
| 2018 | AT&T completes its acquisition of Time Warner after regulator’s approval, renaming it WarnerMedia. |
| 2021 | AT&T announces it would spin off WarnerMedia and merge it with Discovery Inc to create a new standalone media company. |
| 2022 | WarnerMedia and Discovery complete their merger in a $43 billion deal. |
| June 2025 | Warner Bros Discovery announces it would separate into two companies — one focusing on streaming and studios businesses, while the second will house its cable TV assets. |
| October 2025 | Warner Bros Discovery’s board rejects a Paramount Skydance offer of nearly $60 billion, or $24 per share, a source familiar with the matter exclusively tells Reuters. The company says it is weighing a potential sale amid interest from several suitors. |
| November 2025 | Axios reports that Warner Bros Discovery’s board wants Paramount Skydance to sweeten its bid to $30 per share, valuing the company at $74.34 billion. |
| November 2025 | Warner Bros Discovery receives preliminary buyout bids from Paramount Skydance, Comcast and Netflix — who were asked to improve their offers. |
| December 2025 | Warner Bros Discovery receives a second round of bids, including a mostly cash offer from Netflix. |
| December 2025 | Paramount Skydance accuses Warner Bros Discovery of running an unfair sale process that favors Netflix over other bidders, CNBC reports, citing a letter sent by the newly merged media company. |
| December 2025 | Netflix is in exclusive talks to buy Warner Bros Discovery’s film and television studios along with its streaming assets after offering $28 per share. |
| December 2025 | Netflix agrees to buy Warner Bros Discovery’s film and TV studios and streaming division for $72 billion, or $27.75 per share. |
—Reporting by Kritika Lamba, Meghana Khare and Anhata Rooprai in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona, Sriraj Kalluvila and Shinjini Ganguli
