There’s a new theory making the rounds on Wall Street that Netflix doesn’t entirely care whether it winds up with Warner Bros. or not—that its true aim is to prevent Paramount Skydance from getting the company. Sure, Netflix could spend years and hundreds of millions of dollars (not to mention a potential $5.8 billion breakup fee) fighting the government over whether the deal violates the Sherman Antitrust Act, only to lose in court—just as Penguin Random House lost its legal battle to acquire Simon & Schuster in 2022. But in the meantime, it will have hoovered up whatever intellectual property it can from its association with Warners, while giving David Zaslav the time he needs to complete the spinoff of Global Networks—a crucial lure for PSKY, even as it continues to insist the equity of Global Networks is worthless.