DOJ Officially Opens Antitrust Investigation Whether Netflix/WBD Deal Hurts Competition, Industry

DOJ Officially Opens Antitrust Investigation Whether Netflix/WBD Deal Hurts Competition, Industry

February 22, 2026

The Justice Department has drilled down further into Netflix’s pending $82.7 billion all-cash acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming and studio assets to determine whether the streaming behemoth “may substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act or Section 2 of the Sherman Act, according to a Feb. 20 filing first reported by Bloomberg News.

The move could significantly delay regulatory approval of the deal, which is up for WBD shareholder vote on March 20.

“Netflix operates in an extremely competitive market. Any claim that it is a monopolist, or seeking to monopolize, is unfounded,” David Hyman, chief legal officer at Netflix, said in a statement. “We neither hold monopoly power nor engage in exclusionary conduct and we’ll gladly cooperate, as we always do, with regulators on any concerns they may have.”

WBD has given rival suitor, Paramount Skydance, until Feb. 23 to submit its “best and final” offer on its existing $108.4 billion all-cash bid for the entire company — which has been denied 10 times by the WBD, citing questionable financing of the deal.

The DOJ scrutiny of Netflix prefaced President Trump’s Feb. 21 social media post where he demanded Netflix fire board member Susan Rice, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and former National Security Advisor in the Obama Administration, following her critical comments of the Trump Administration on a podcast.

Netflix has come under increased fire over the WBD deal, with critics, including Avatar director James Cameron, consumer groups and members of Congress, alleging the streamer’s business model seeks to end theatrical distribution and creates monopolies to consumers and Hollywood.

Netflix has pledged to spend $20 billion on content in 2026, including honoring Warner’s existing 45-day theatrical window, and expanding production spend at its New Mexico and New Jersey studio locations.

Paramount has said it would seek to carve out $9 billion in cost synergies merging with WBD. It also said it would release 30 theatrical titles a year — 50% more than what Paramount and Warner released together in 2025.

Paramount on Feb. 19 claimed its bid had cleared DOJ’s scrutiny deadline. The company’s senior management includes Rene Augustine, SVP of global public policy, a former special assistant to Trump and senior associate counsel in the office of White House Counsel, and chief legal officer Makan Delrahim — Trump’s former antitrust boss in his first administration.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarnados, who is in London for the 76th British Academy Film Awards, or BAFTAs, on Feb. 22, accused Paramount of muddying the waters with unfounded claims, including regulatory questions.

“Just put a better deal on the table and see if you can win,” Sarandos said.

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