Jared Kushner's Affinity is stepping away from the Paramount-Warner Bros. bid
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Jared Kushner's private equity firm is stepping away from the Paramount bid for WBD. Kristina Kormilitsyna / POOL / AFP via Getty Images 2025-12-17T03:32:55.620Z Share Facebook Email X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky WhatsApp Copy link lighning bolt icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt.
Impact Link Save Saved Read in app Add us on This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in. Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners is stepping away from Paramount's bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. The private equity firm was previously part of the financing group for the $108 billion bid. It's the latest development in the media war among Paramount Skydance, Netflix, and WBD. Jared Kushner is walking away from Paramount's bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. Affinity Partners, a Florida-based private equity firm founded by President Donald Trump's son-in-law, will not participate in financing Paramount's $108 billion bid for WBD, a person close to the matter told Business Insider. The person said Affinity was expected to invest $200 million, a relatively small amount of the total bid.In a statement to various news outlets, an Affinity spokesperson confirmed the end of the firm's participation. "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," the spokesperson said.Affinity did not respond to Business Insider's requests for comment. Affinity and Jared Kushner were identified as a financing partner in Paramount's 367-page SEC filing on December 8, in which it made the bid for WBD. Its other external financing partners include wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi.Kushner's father-in-law's presence looms large in the deal.
President Donald Trump, who said he would be involved, has long-standing ties to David Ellison's father, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, who is backing the Paramount bid. While Trump publicly praised Netflix and its co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, the president also said that a combo of Netflix and WBD "could be a problem" due to the size.Kushner's exit is the latest development in the media war among Paramount Skydance, Netflix, and WBD. On December 5, Netflix announced that it would acquire WBD for an equity value of $72 billion. The streaming giant edged out other bidders, like Paramount and Comcast.Days later, Paramount launched a hostile bid of $30 per share for all of WBD, with CEO David Ellison urging WBD's shareholders to tender their shares and switch teams from Netflix to Paramount. He wrote a letter to the shareholders on December 10, criticizing WBD's advisors for not giving Paramount's offer the same treatment as Netflix's. He described the sales process as "opaque."Paramount's stock price is down more than 5% over the past five days but up 32% since the start of the year. WBD's stock price is up about 170% since the start of the year.