Kushner’s Fund Bails on Warner Bid Like Exit Polls on Election Night

KEY POINTS

•Affinity Partners, Jared Kushner’s fund, withdrew from Paramount’s $40.7 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery in December 2025.
•Paramount increased its offer from $19 to $30 per share, switching to all-cash bids after board concerns about funding obligations.
•Foreign sovereign funds and Larry Ellison’s declining Oracle stock complicated Paramount’s bid, with Warner Bros. expected to reject the offer by December 22.

Affinity Partners, Jared Kushner’s fund (yes, THAT Jared Kushner), decided to ghost Paramount’s audacious $40.7 billion bid to grab Warner Bros. Discovery, just weeks after joining back in October. Paramount cranked up offers from a humble $19 a share cash+stock cocktail to a $30-a-share pure cash flex, hoping to woo Warner Bros.' board. But jewelry-sized stakes and Kushner’s touch couldn’t seal the deal—Affinity quit claiming 'two strong competitors' showed up, as if Paramount crashed the party with mysterious foreign cash from Saudi, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar sovereign wealth funds. Larry Ellison’s Oracle stock, down 45% since September, didn’t help, even after family bigwigs promised to mind governance like overprotective helicopter parents. The Dec. 22 legal deadline to reject Paramount’s hostile takeover looms, but insiders suggest a Swift rejection is coming, leaving Paramount’s next move as uncertain as Kushner’s real estate career.