Hollywood, Big Tech, Wall Street, and aviation all delivered fireworks today.
Paramount shook up the media landscape with a surprise $108 billion bid for WBD, IBM made a major AI-focused acquisition, and JPMorgan tapped a Berkshire heavyweight to steer billions in new strategic investments.
Meanwhile, IndiGo’s operational meltdown continued to hammer its stock as regulators stepped in.
Here’s a quick rundown of the biggest moves shaping markets and major industries tonight.
Paramount launches hostile $108B bid for WBD
Paramount and Skydance just dropped a massive surprise move: a hostile, all-cash $108.4 billion bid to buy all of Warner Bros. Discovery.
They are offering $30 per share, which is a huge 139% premium over WBD’s price before any deals were announced.
And this isn’t just some random bid; it’s basically a direct challenge to Netflix’s existing $82.7 billion offer for WBD’s studios, HBO Max, and the film library.
Netflix’s deal assumes WBD spins off the cable networks first and comes out to about $27.75 per share in cash and stock.
Paramount’s offer is backed by the Ellison family, RedBird Capital, and $54 billion in debt from big banks.
They are arguing their deal is worth $18 billion more in cash than Netflix’s, and they say regulators would sign off faster.
Paramount thinks they could get approval quickly, while Netflix is supposedly staring at a 12–18 month regulatory slog.
IBM buys Confluent to boost AI and Cloud
IBM just made a big move: it’s buying data-streaming company Confluent in a deal valued at about $11 billion ($9.3 billion in equity).
They are offering $31 a share, which is a solid 34% premium over where Confluent closed on Friday.
This is one of IBM’s largest acquisitions in years, coming right after last year’s $6.4 billion HashiCorp deal, as CEO Arvind Krishna keeps doubling down on hybrid cloud and AI.
Confluent’s tech is all about real-time data; it’s built on Apache Kafka and basically acts as the plumbing for huge streams of information that power AI models, analytics, and mission-critical operations across industries like finance and retail.
For IBM, this is about sharpening its competitive edge against AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud as demand for AI-friendly infrastructure explodes.
Owning Confluent should help IBM move data around faster between clouds and applications, which is increasingly the name of the game.
JPMorgan taps Todd Combs for new investment role
JPMorgan just tapped a big name for a big job.
Todd Combs, the longtime Berkshire Hathaway investor and former CEO of GEICO, is taking over the bank’s new Strategic Investment Group.
He will be overseeing about $10 billion in direct equity investments as part of JPMorgan’s massive $1.5 trillion Security and Resiliency Initiative.
Combs officially joins in January 2026. To do it, he’s stepping down from JPMorgan’s board and will report directly to Jamie Dimon.
His mission is pretty clear: invest in middle-market and large companies across defence, aerospace, healthcare, and energy, basically sectors tied to US growth, manufacturing, and national competitiveness.
The timing fits with the transition happening over at Berkshire, where Greg Abel is set to take over from Warren Buffett on January 1.
And to round it out, JPMorgan has set up an advisory council chaired by Dimon, with big names like Jeff Bezos and Michael Dell offering guidance.
IndiGo’s weeklong flight meltdown escalates
IndiGo has had a rough week; its stock dropped 8.7% on Monday, wiping out about $4.5 billion in market value in just seven days.
The sell-off follows a meltdown that left roughly half a million passengers stranded after widespread flight cancellations caused by a sudden pilot shortage tied to new rest rules.
Things hit their worst point on Friday, when IndiGo cancelled more than 1,000 flights, nearly half of everything it operates in a day.
The chaos stemmed from stricter flight duty time limits that kicked in on November 1, but the situation snowballed thanks to bad weather, tech issues, and airport congestion.
The Indian aviation ministry is not taking it lightly. Officials promised “strict action” and sent a show-cause notice to CEO Pieter Elbers, accusing the airline of poor planning and oversight.
The DGCA has launched an investigation, and the new rules have been paused until February 2026 to stabilise operations.
The post Evening digest: Paramount’s $108B shock bid, IBM’s AI push, JPMorgan’s new power hire appeared first on Invezz
