Paramount has launched a £108.4bn hostile bid for Warner Bros, challenging Netflix, which had reached a $72bn takeover deal with the company.

Paramount said on Monday that it was going straight to Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) shareholders with a $30 per share in cash offer for the entirety of the company, including its Global Networks segment, asking them to reject the deal with Netflix.

On Friday Netflix struck a deal to buy WBD, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max

The cash and stock deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt.

But Paramount says its deal will pay $30 cash per share, representing $18 billion more in cash than its rivals are offering.

In a statement, Paramount said it was making a “strategically and financially compelling offer to WBD shareholders” and a “superior alternative to the Netflix transaction”.

David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount, said: “WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company.

“Our public offer, which is on the same terms we provided to the Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors in private, provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion.

“We believe the WBD Board of Directors is pursuing an inferior proposal which exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business and a challenging regulatory approval process.

“We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interests and maximize the value of their shares.”

Paramount said it had submitted six proposals to WBD in the course of 12 weeks, but that they were never “meaningfully” engaged with.

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Donald Trump’s eldest son has said his father may walk away from the Ukraine peace process, claiming the issue is not a priority for Americans, and signalling Europe needs a better plan.

In a wide-ranging discussion with Sky’s lead world news presenter Yalda Hakim at Doha Forum 2025, Donald Trump Jr addressed issues including the US administration’s recent diplomatic efforts around the world.

He was speaking in his capacity as a business leader, setting out his agenda for “America first” investments in defence technology and artificial intelligence (AI), drawing a direct line between global stability and economic prosperity.

Ukraine war latest – follow live updates

When asked directly if he believed the US president would walk away from Ukraine, he answered: “I think he may, what’s good about my father and what’s unique about my father is you don’t know what he’s going to do. He’s unpredictable.”

President Trump has led renewed efforts for a ceasefire deal with Russia in recent months.

Drawing a parallel with his father’s current “war” on drug cartels, Donald Trump Jr described gangs bringing illegal drugs into America as a “far greater clear and present danger to the US than anything [going on] in the Ukraine or Russia”.

While he said he did not believe Ukraine would be “abandoned”, he said: “The American public doesn’t have the appetite [for endless wars and further funding of Ukraine’s military efforts].”

Describing Ukraine as “a far more corrupt country than Russia”, he characterised Ukrainian President Zelenskyy as “one of the great marketeers of all time”, who he said had become “a borderline deity, especially to the left”.

He went on to describe President Trump’s approach as “common sense”.

China rivalry was the focus, but Musk got a mention

Yalda Hakim

Lead world news presenter

@SkyYaldaHakim

In a country and at a conference which is friendly, even admiring of the Trump administration, Don Jr was in his element.

He’s here in his capacity as a business leader, promoting his venture, 1789 Capital which claims to be focused on “America First” investments.

But he wasn’t shy about discussing his father’s foreign policy achievements, boasting that Donald Trump had resolved seven or eight wars – conflicts that most ordinary Americans were unaware of.

His pitch is bullish and direct – the current US administration is projecting strength globally, stopping wars and creating investment opportunities which serves the American economy. It’s the MAGA mentality for the global audience.

It’s clear that the rivalry with China is their biggest focus, especially finding ways to combat their dominance over critical minerals.

“America can no longer just sit there and hope that China is going to be a good actor… I think the rest of the world understands that they want America to be at the forefront of all of that.”

When I asked him about recent efforts by President Trump to bring the war in Ukraine to an end, he responded forcefully. “We want peace, we want to stop the death.”

But he went on to say that Europe needed to shoulder the burden and currently they have no plan.

As he sat on the stage in Qatar, the country which has been at the centre of the ceasefire efforts for Gaza, he expressed hope that peace would prevail, but balanced expectations America would fund its re-construction. This would have to be a global effort.

“If there’s one thing my father is, it’s a builder… I think he can be the greatest construction manager in the history of the world, but no one in America wants to bear the entire responsibility of that.”

And, away from international diplomatic efforts, he was happy to announce a breakthrough closer to home.

The “bromance” with Elon Musk and President Trump is back on – calling the entrepreneur a “generational talent, a generational level of genius”.

‘Bromance’ back on

He also confirmed that Tesla billionaire Elon Musk was “100% back in the fold”, after previously appearing to fall out with the president.

Earlier this year, Donald Trump Jr’s investment company, 1789 Capital, heavily invested in some of Musk’s companies, including SpaceX.

Directly comparing President Trump with Musk, he said: “Imagine dealing with one Donald Trump – now I have to deal with two.

“They’re very similar that way, so it created some headaches… but the reality is they’re both very much aligned, they’re on message with what we want to do with our country. What we want to do with freedom of speech.”

He went on: “Elon did incredible things for Twitter, really allowed the democratisation of truth and freedom and free speech to occur. That’s something that is a true threat in America right now.”

He also praised Musk as “changing the face of free speech, science and technology”, adding, “we have to protect our geniuses”.

When asked whether Mr Trump would stand for a third term, he joked that he could be “just trolling” those on the left.

He went on, “He’s the most unpredictable person, probably in the history of politics. Which is why he’s able to get something done. We’ll see.”

Framed photos with presidents, princes and even the pope adorned the many homes of Jeffrey Epstein.

This article contains images and language that some readers may find disturbing.

The disgraced New York financier’s most lucrative currency was people. He made a career out of connections with world leaders in politics, business titans and science’s most lauded brains.

The man formerly known as Prince Andrew, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, described Epstein‘s appeal in his infamous TV interview: “He had the most extraordinary ability to bring extraordinary people together and that’s the bit that I remember, going to the dinner parties where you would meet academics, politicians, people from the United Nations. It was a cosmopolitan group of what I would describe as US eminence.”

His network was not just US-based but the global elite – among them hedge fund owners, bankers and hoteliers.

But as more and more new documents and photos are made public, we can build up an intimate portrait of a man who kept so much private.

Read more: Dozens more images of Epstein’s island released

Another man once called a prince, but of darkness this time, Peter Mandelson, described his “best pal” as a “prolific networker”. Epstein’s friends crossed political parties – Republican and Democratic – and continents.

Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion was just a seven-minute drive from Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago. In 2002, Mr Trump told New York Magazine: “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

They are said to have fallen out while competing to purchase a mansion in 2004.

The release of thousands of Epstein’s personal emails shows he had had plenty of world leaders in his inbox.

The former prime minister of Norway and former president of the Maldives sought his advice on politics and finance respectively.

An enigma

Epstein’s emails are short, often abrupt and riddled with spelling mistakes. The impression he wanted to give: he was a busy man, an enigma. You were lucky to be getting a reply.

He cared about appearances – his own and of the women he abused. He dated many models, including a former Miss Sweden. He followed a strict diet to keep lean and insisted the women in his life did the same.

His now notorious 50th birthday book is packed full of candid snaps, some featured here, that flaunt his lavish lifestyle. It is also brazen in its relishing of Epstein’s proclivity for young women. Images of scantily clad women are included in photos and doodles.

The anecdotes from his wealthy, powerful friends are often smutty or innuendo-led. “It’s no secret that Jeffrey appreciates beautiful women. But not many people know that he can create them out of thin air,” reads one.

Massages were entry route to abuse

Epstein’s black book of contacts had lengthy lists of women lined up for “massages” in Florida, California, New Mexico, New York, London, Paris and his island.

At least 152 women are named in it with phone numbers – they were available on speed dial.

The premise of a massage was often his entry route to abuse. The massages were scheduled, part of his daily routine. Whether on a private jet or his private island, he acted with impunity for far too long.

Epstein did not show remorse for his crimes

Multiple women went to the police to report his actions over the years. But the only jail time he was ever sentenced to was in 2008 after a controversial deal where he pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail, but only served 13 and negotiated the ability to leave the jail six days a week for up to 12 hours a day for work.

Despite becoming a registered sex offender in 2008, he was far from a social pariah. Nor did he show remorse for his crimes.

Even a decade after his conviction, he was still mocking sexual abuse. He wrote in a message to a friend in 2018, “so many guys caught in the me too, reaching out to me. Asking when does the madness stop. Funny,” and then that “breast cancer was easier to cure than the me too movement”.

‘Epstein claimed if girls had started menstruating they were of age to have sex’

Virginia Giuffre revealed in her memoir that Epstein would say that criminalising sex with teenage girls was a cultural aberration. He would point to different US states having different ages of consent – in Florida it was 18. He claimed if girls had started menstruating they were biologically of age to have sex.

Documents released by the House Oversight Committee reveal he paid to “clean up” what came up about him on Google after his conviction. On 11 December 2010 he bemoaned that despite forking out thousands, “the google page is not good” in an email.

‘An extraordinary volume’ of naked photos of young girls

On 6 July 2019, Epstein was arrested on federal charges related to sex trafficking after his private jet flew into the US from Paris.

“An extraordinary volume” of naked photos of young girls were found in his New York town house. Authorities also found a safe containing 48 loose diamonds, $70,000 (£52,000) in cash and three passports belonging to the sex offender. The expired Austrian passport had a photo of Epstein, but a different name and an address in Saudi Arabia.

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On 10 August 2019, Epstein was found dead in his New York prison cell while awaiting trial. Forty-eight hours before he died he signed a will which put his assets in a trust, the beneficiaries of which remain private.

Epstein’s most vocal victim, Ms Giuffre, who took her own life this year, closes her memoir Nobody’s Girl saying: “Epstein is dead but the attitude that allowed him to do what he did, it’s alive and well.”

Six years after his death, Epstein continues to haunt those who knew him. Some may be scared – for their reputation, careers and for what more could still come out.