Jessica Mendoza

What does this tell you about how important this deal was to Paramount?

Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power.

I'm Jessica Mendoza.

It's Thursday, March 5th.

Coming up on the show, how Paramount managed to snatch a last minute victory in the fight for Warner Brothers.

If this were a reality dating show, Warner Brothers would have been The Bachelor, and Paramount and Netflix were the final two.

And the main reason these two companies were so interested in acquiring Warner was its iconic catalog.

Harry Potter.

Gryffindor!

As for Netflix, the company's strategy had always been build, not buy.

But it did see a lot of upside in acquiring Warner Studios and HBO.

Paramount already had $14 billion in debt.

So Warner was skeptical that Paramount made sense as a buyer.

But for all that, Paramount wasn't giving up.

In December, after Netflix and Warner seemed to have struck a deal, Paramount made one more bid to take over the company, offering nearly $78 billion.

Then, Paramount CEO David Ellison turned to his allies in Washington.

Just days after making that offer, Ellison sat in President Trump's box at an event at the Kennedy Center.

And Paramount's chief legal officer oversaw a lobbying campaign that encouraged Republican lawmakers and administration officials to question Netflix's bid.

Netflix, on the other hand, didn't have those connections in D.C.

At a Senate hearing about the merger last month, the company struggled to win over lawmakers from both parties.