It would be a great way to prepare for the auction. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav hosted a star-studded dinner at his home in Beverly Hills on Wednesday night. Hours earlier, he boarded a red-eye flight to New York to consider the first wave of preliminary offers for the entertainment conglomerate he will lead from 2022.
The guest list would have been impressive at any red carpet premiere, including Oprah Winfrey, Lorne Michaels, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, Al Pacino, Sandra Bullock, Jonah Hill, Bette Midler, Kristen Wiig, Bryan Lard, and Nancy Meyers. Approximately 20 people in total attended the studio for a casual discussion about the film and various ongoing projects.
A source with direct knowledge of the night said the atmosphere was upbeat and fun despite the serious situation facing Warner Bros. Discovery. The auction process, which began less than four years after the company went through its most recent mega-merger (WarnerMedia and Discovery, completed in April 2022), has sparked fear and anxiety among rank-and-file employees at Warner Bros., HBO/HBO Max, and at CNN, TNT, TBS, Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, and the other linear cable channels that became part of WBD through the Discovery merger.
But during a conversation at a dinner party Wednesday night, the focus on new projects was said to have always been on his mind. There wasn’t much open conversation about the sale process. But one source said it had become clear that Mr. Zaslav and his key lieutenants expected the process to be substantially completed by Christmas, which some felt was ambitious.
A source said Zaslav remained a gracious host and engaged in a lively discussion about the industry and its future. After the last course was served, Zaslav bowed to board the plane. According to a direct source, the WBD CEO left the audience with the impression that his plan was to sleep during the flight and then “wake up, take a shower, and wait for bids to come in at noon.”
Potential bidders for WBD that have emerged in recent weeks include Paramount, Comcast and Netflix. The details of who actually filed what Thursday are still unclear. A representative for Warner Bros. Discovery did not respond to a request for comment.
