Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters On Skydance’s 30 Annual Films Pledge: “If I Was A Betting Person, It Seems Likely They’re Not Going To Do That.” Also Says “We’re Focused On Investing In Organic Growth. This Is Our Opportunity To Turn On After-Burners While Ellisons Are Distracted For Next 12-24 Months.”

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“Netflix co-chief executive Greg Peters said he was “nervous” about severe job cuts in Hollywood as Paramount begins to swallow up its longtime rival Warner Bros Discovery.

Speaking days after Netflix pulled out of the battle for WBD, Peters said “a bunch of people are going to lose their jobs” under Paramount, which has said about $6bn in synergies would be made as part of the merger of its studio, streaming and news services with Warner Bros.

But Netflix had estimated Paramount would have to cut $16bn to make its deal work, given the $111bn price tag of its WBD acquisition. The tie-up came seven months after David Ellison closed the merger of his company, Skydance, with Paramount.

“They’re bidding and winning these deals at prices that I can’t make sense of, that don’t seem economic,” Peters said in an interview with the FT on Monday. “And if [Netflix] can’t make it economically viable, I don’t know how they can. So I am quite frankly a little bit nervous for the industry.”

Peters said the debt Paramount is using in the transaction — about $54bn — would leave the group in a “bit of a precarious position”, adding: “I would be very nervous about the debt load if I were in that position. And nervous is probably an understatement.”

Netflix last week refused to match an increased offer from Paramount, saying WBD would have been “‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price”.

“We knew where we were going to go,” Peters said. “When the price that we felt like we needed to bid to win . . . was more than that number, it didn’t really require any significant conversation.”

Netflix also faced questions over whether it could win regulatory approval, especially after President Donald Trump in December said the combined companies “could be a problem” because of the streaming group’s existing market share.

There was also a strong perception that Trump favoured the Paramount deal, given his close ties to Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, who backstopped his son’s offer. But Netflix insisted it could have gained regulatory approval.

“[Paramount was] successful in getting that narrative out there, but . . . it was a non-factor in our ultimate decision,” Peters said. “We would have gotten it approved.”

Netflix also faced vocal opposition from Hollywood executives who worried about the streaming platform’s commitment to releasing movies for the cinema, which it sought to address by promising to allow WBD’s studios to continue making decisions about release schedules.

Peters questioned Paramount’s pledge to release 30 feature films in cinemas annually after the deal closes, with each studio releasing 15.

“I don’t understand how they’re going to live up to the 30 movie commitment and make those be 30 good theatrical releases,” he said. “If I was a betting person, I would suggest that it seems likely that they’re going to not do that.”

Peters described the $2.8bn that Netflix received from Paramount in a break fee from its agreed deal as a “nice concession prize” that would allow it “to deliver more value for our members”. He cited plans for new formats such as video podcasts and interactive games.

He said there was “some disappointment among some parts of our company” but added, “this is our opportunity to turn on the after-burners while [Paramount] folk are distracted for the next 12, 18, 24 months.”

Peters said Netflix would be open to other large-scale deal opportunities. “If something comes along [that’s] a faster way to get to our goals, we’ll be willing to go after it,” he said.

But Netflix’s fundamental “build not buy” strategy has not changed. “We’re mostly focused on investing in organic growth,” he said, noting the chance to buy a company such as WBD was unusual.

“This Warner Brothers style deal, that’s pretty rare, so I don’t anticipate that there’s a lot of activity on that front in the near future,” he said, adding that now the job is to “go back and keep plugging away.””