While the White House was publicly questioning whether Netflix’s bid for Warner Bros would survive antitrust scrutiny, President Trump was privately buying their bonds.
Government financial disclosures released this week show Trump purchased between $1.1 million and $2.25 million worth of Netflix bonds across four trades in December and January, right as the bidding war with Paramount Skydance was at its most intense. He also bought between $500,000 and $1 million in Warner Bros Discovery bonds in two trades in mid-December. Both positions are in the money.
The Netflix bonds were trading around $1.03-1.04 on the dollar when he bought them. The WBD bonds were at 91-92 cents and are now worth 95 cents on the dollar. The White House says Trump’s portfolio is managed independently by third-party institutions and that “neither President Trump nor any member of his family has any ability to direct, influence, or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested.” The purchases were part of a broader disclosure showing dozens of bond transactions, including SiriusXM, Boeing, GM, Occidental, and various municipal bonds.
The timeline is what makes it interesting. Netflix announced the $82.7 billion deal for Warner Bros on December 5. Trump bought bonds in both companies on December 12 and 16. Days after the announcement, he told reporters that Netflix’s growing market share “could be a problem” and said “I’ll be involved in that decision” about whether to approve the deal. His administration pressured Netflix to fire board member Susan Rice, a former Obama aide, and in February Trump posted on Truth Social that Netflix would “pay the consequences” unless it fired her “immediately.” He later told NBC he would not be personally involved in the DOJ review, reversing his earlier position.
Through all of the public pressure, the antitrust questions, and the threats, he was holding their bonds.
Netflix Won By Losing
Netflix’ stock surged 12.4% the next trading day after the deal collapsed.
The consensus, almost instantly, was that walking away was the right move.
Netflix walks away with a $2.8 billion breakup fee, an investment-grade credit rating, a $15 billion buyback program about to resume, and a reaffirmed $20 billion content budget for 2026. The company that “lost” the bidding war is now the one with the cleanest balance sheet, the most financial flexibility, and a stock that’s rallying while every other index on the planet is crashing.
Meanwhile, Paramount Skydance now owns Warner Bros Discovery with $85 billion+ in combined debt, a complex integration ahead, and a market environment where oil is at $120 and interest rates may not come down all year. Good luck refinancing that.
The lesson is an old one, but it keeps getting relearned: in a bidding war, the winner is usually the one who walks away. Netflix just collected $2.8 billion for doing nothing, bought an AI company with Ben Affleck instead, and resumed buying back its own stock. Sometimes the best deal is the one you don’t make.
