Netflix was pursuing the acquisition of Warner Bros. The bidding war was short. The bidders were Paramount, Comcast, Apple, and Amazon. It was David Ellison who accidentally kicked the whole thing off. He marched in trying to buy Warner Bros. outright, got outplayed, and ended up just pushing the price higher and attracting every other major player. Now Netflix has a deal, but Paramount has launched a hostile, all-cash takeover bid to stop it.