David Dayden, executive editor of The American Prospect, raises a question on the website, “Why is Warner Brothers For Sale At All?”
I have been wondering the same thing.
The Irony of it All
Dayden answers his own question by saying,
“The simplest answer for why Warner Bros. wants a merger is to cover for other failed mergers….These mergers created a horrific financial legacy: “$53 billion in debt as of 2022.”
He also lists the acquisitions that have led to the debt, including Time Magazine, America Online (AOL), Time Warner then being bought by AT&T, and Discovery Media.
What is ironic here is that Warner Bros. Discovery finds itself now as a victim of its own previous acquisition frenzy.
He adds that Warner recently received Golden Globe nominations for the films “One Battle After Another,” and “Sinners.” Also for the television series “The White Lion.” So it’s not like the company is in a downward spiral with new releases.
Dayden ends his article promoting separate companies between production and distribution.
What to Do
Why is Warner Brothers for sale at all? In this case, because there are more than one potential buyers. As far as I know it was not looking for a buyer. And each buyer feels confident that another big dollar acquisition will get approved by regulators.
In this chess game I have yet to read about what employees think of all this. Nor is there any input from customers.
IMO, federal anti-monopoly, anti-trust law violations should include a buyer’s acquisition history, including input from both employees and customers. Have previous acquisitions resulted in immediate mass layoffs? Is there documented evidence of customer dissatisfaction with either the product or service? Has money been invested in the acquisition or has it been ignored and left to die on the vine? Violations of these should also be codified to give judges broader reason for denying an acquisition. A company dying resulting from an acquisition is not in the best interests of our nation as a whole. This should be a bigger priority than one company’s private benefit.