Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos never met with President Trump or any White House officials last week when he visited Washington, according to sources familiar with the engagement.
- Sarandos was informed shortly after arriving at the White House that his meeting was canceled because of a last-minute scheduling conflict, and then he promptly left the building.
Why it matters: Media onlookers were quick to speculate that Sarandos' meeting at the White House on Thursday prompted Netflix to drop out of the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery.
- But Netflix had already determined at that point that it wouldn't up its bid, Sarandos told Bloomberg.
- Trump talked to Sarandos on the phone later that evening after Netflix had already announced it didn't plan to continue bidding, a source familiar with the matter told Axios.
Zoom in: Sarandos' call was the first time he had spoken to the president in several weeks.
- When they spoke about the deal last year, Trump advised Sarandos not to overpay for the asset, the source noted.
- Netflix declined to comment when asked about the call. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Between the lines: Sarandos did meet with Justice Department officials last Thursday in D.C.
- A source familiar with the conversations characterized the meeting with DOJ officials as productive. Another noted that DOJ officials never threatened Netflix and told Sarandos they planned to run a fair process.
The big picture: Sarandos' visit to the White House hit a nerve with Democratic lawmakers, who on Monday alleged the streaming giant's meetings with Trump administration officials may have discouraged the company from upping its bid, therefore handing the WBD deal to Paramount.
- A source told Axios that Sarandos' D.C. visit was scheduled weeks in advance of Paramount submitting its final offer.
Zoom out: Both Paramount's and Netflix's bids would have faced regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. and abroad, but the merger fight ultimately came down to who was willing to pay the highest price. For Netflix, the deal wasn't financially prudent.
- "Our decision not to increase our offer reflects our disciplined financial approach and our clear assessment of value, and was not driven by regulatory considerations of any kind," a Netflix spokesperson said.
- "We continue to believe that the transaction we negotiated would have created meaningful shareholder value and offered a clear, achievable path to regulatory approval."
The bottom line: In recent months, Trump signaled he could weigh in on the regulatory review of the deal. But according to Sarandos, Trump's interest appeared limited to how the transaction might affect CNN.
- Sarandos told Bloomberg in an interview published Sunday: "Once it was clear that we weren't in the CNN business, it was a lot less interesting. He didn't care that much more about our deal."
