Jared Kushner's private equity firm, Affinity Partners, has surfaced as a key player in Paramount's hostile takeover attempt of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), according to a new regulatory filing cited by Axios. The disclosure comes after Paramount, under the leadership of David Ellison—whose father, Larry Ellison, is a prominent supporter of President Trump—announced a $108 billion bid for WBD, days after a deal for Netflix to buy WBD was announced.
Notably, Affinity Partners and several sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar, all of which are involved in financing the proposed deal, were absent from Paramount's initial press release about the bid. The filing clarifies that these investors have agreed to relinquish governance rights, including board seats, tied to their non-voting equity stakes.
The involvement of Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, in the bid could bolster Paramount's argument to WBD shareholders that it faces fewer regulatory hurdles than rival bidder Netflix. Ethics experts tell Reuters Kushner's involvement raises questions regarding the president's potential influence over the situation; Trump had already warned he'd be involved in federal oversight of the proposed Netflix-WBD deal, and hinted that approval of the deal could result in Netflix becoming too big. "If you were teaching a class at business school on conflicts of interest, this would be Exhibit A," says one expert. Presidential involvement in approval of such deals is uncommon.
The AP reports the bidding war likely means a year or more of uncertainty for CNN, which is owned by WBD, until it becomes clear what company will own the news network. If Paramount wins out, David Ellison has said he intends to combine the company's CBS News with CNN. As the New York Times reports, Trump has long been critical of CNN.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
