Netflix buys Warner Bros., including HBO and HBO Max

Today Netflix has announced that it’s buying Warner Bros. (WB) for $72 billion. This includes HBO and HBO Max, but it will take a rather long time because WB’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) first has to separate its Global Networks division into a new publicly-traded company called Discovery Global.

This is now expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2026, after which Netflix will acquire what’s left – namely the current Streaming & Studios division of WBD.

As the name implies, this includes WB studios as well as HBO and the HBO Max streaming service. Netflix…