Netflix’s Sarandos Wooed Trump in Person Ahead of Warner Bid

Netflix Inc. co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos ventured to the White House in mid-November for a meeting with President Donald Trump. Over more than an hour, the two discussed a range of topics, including the auction of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., according to people familiar with the interaction.

Warner Bros. should sell to the highest bidder, Trump said, according to the people, who asked not to be identified divulging the details of a private conversation. Sarandos agreed, making the case for his company’s offer. The streaming TV leader wasn’t any kind of all-powerful monopoly, Sarandos argued, and had suffered its own subscriber losses a couple years earlier.