Jared Kushner’s Firm Pulls Out of Paramount’s Warner Bros. Hostile Takeover Bid

(Photo by: Florian Gaertner/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Affinity Partners, the investment fund tied to President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, exited Paramount Skydance’s audacious bid to take over Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday, sharpening doubts about whether the deal can survive.

The exit comes just days before Warner Bros. Discovery’s board is expected to formally reject Paramount’s latest $30-a-share all-cash offer ahead of a legal deadline of December 22 to respond to the hostile bid.

Paramount Skydance announced a hostile takeover bid on December 8, just days after Netflix successfully inked a nearly $83 billion deal to acquire WBD.

Around 60 percent of the $40 billion equity package backing Paramount’s offer comes from foreign sovereign wealth funds, including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Abu Dhabi’s L’imad Holding Company, and the Qatar Investment Authority. Although Paramount has repeatedly stressed that these partners, along with Affinity at the time, would have no voting or governance rights

Affinity’s decision, according to Axios, which first confirmed the move, removes a politically useful but financially modest, player from Paramount’s consortium. While the firm never held a major stake, Kushner’s involvement was widely seen as a potential buffer against regulatory turbulence.

“With two strong competitors vying to secure the future of this unique American asset, Affinity has decided no longer to pursue the opportunity,” an Affinity spokesperson told the outlet. “The dynamics of the investment have changed significantly since we initially became involved in October. We continue to believe there is a strong strategic rationale for Paramount’s offer.”