President Donald Trump may or may not be able buy Greenland, but he can definitely buy some exposure to the entertainment business.
According to a financial disclosure released by the White House, President Trump acquired corporate bonds issued by Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery, valued as high as $1 million each. The debt securities were acquired in the days after Netflix announced its blockbuster $83 billion deal for Warner Bros.
The White House released the disclosure for the President late Thursday, listing dozens of transactions with a total value well over $100 million, including the acquired debt from the entertainment companies. The disclosure, which is dated Jan. 14, does not list the precise value of each purchase, instead offering a range.
According to the disclosure form, Trump acquired two tranches of Netflix bonds, one purchase valued at between $250,001-$500,000 on Dec. 12, and a second purchase at between $250,001-$500,000 made Dec. 16. The Netflix bonds are set to mature in Nov. 2029.
And the form also shows that Trump acquired bonds issues by Discovery Communications LLC, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The first tranche was acquired Dec. 12 and is valued at $250,001-$500,000, and the second purchase of WBD bonds was made Dec. 16 with a listed value of between $250,001-$500,000. The WBD bonds mature in 2030.
Trump also acquired a similar number of corporate bonds issued by SiriusXM, the filing shows, alongside dozens of other purchases.
After a previous financial disclosure was released last August, the White House told media outlets that bond purchases were made by an independent financial advisor, so that is likely the case for the new purchases as well. The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to the White House to ask for clarification.
Most of the bonds he acquired in December were municipal bonds from states and cities across the country, but it also included many corporate bonds from major U.S. companies, including General Motors, Boeing, Macy’s and Victoria’s Secret.
The purchase of the Netflix and WBD debt securities began just a week after the two companies inked their megadeal, though David Ellison’s Paramount is trying to pry WBD away from Netflix with a hostile tender offer, and a potential proxy fight.
Of course, any deal will need to be approved by U.S. regulators, and Trump has said publicly that he expects to weigh in on it, with his Department of Justice expected to take the lead on challenging a merger.
Trump met with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos in the days leading up to the deal, and the two hit it off, with Trump calling him “a fantastic man.” That being said, Trump also reposted an article that was highly critical of the Netflix-WBD deal titled “Stop the Netflix Cultural Takeover.”
When asked about the post this week, Sarandos said, “I don’t know why he would have done that … No conversation we ever had was about any of the things that were in that article that he posted. I don’t want to overread it, either.”
