Amazon says it will acquire MGM Studios for $8.45B, its second-largest acquisition since it paid $13.7B for Whole Foods in 2017
they are laser-focused on expanding and entrenching their monopoly power. That's bad for workers, consumers, and small businesses. Josh Hawley / @hawleymo : This sale should not go through. @amazon is already a monopoly platform that owns e-commerce, shipping, groceries & the cloud. They shouldn't be permitted to buy anything else. Period. https://twitter.com/... Harry McCracken / @harrymccracken : Bad news for Amazon: MGM's Leo the Lion has been known to go on strike. https://twitter.com/... Zephyr Teachout / @zephyrteachout : Amazon should be broken apart from the warehouses this MGM nonsense is exactly the wrong direction. Stop the monopoly madness. Aaron Levie / @levie : Amazon buying MGM is another milestone for tech and the rest of the world converging. The distinction between tech and non-tech is evaporating, and we're only going to see more of this in all industries. Rami Ismail / @tha_rami : “A hero with superpowers fights a compelling enemy like an alien invasion around the world with violence, making moral choices. sometimes it's happy and sometimes it's sad and sometimes it's funny. also there's betrayal and cliffhangers.” - Jeff Bezos on good storytelling https://twitter.com/... Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias : I'm just a Bezos simp I know, but of all the “big tech monopolies” Amazon is the least monopoly-like and has the low margins to prove it. @eastdakota : Easy to underestimate Amazon. It's a mistake. They're not cute or cuddly. They aim to destroy every one of their customers' businesses. https://twitter.com/... Richard Blumenthal / @senblumenthal : A thread: Amazon's purchase of MGM Studios is a prime example of how Big Tech has gotten so big, how our antitrust policies are woefully out-of-date, & how the right leadership can repair the damage. 1/4 https://twitter.com/... Neil Cybart / @neilcybart : Amazon confirms it will buy MGM for $8.45B. The deal is all about MGM's back catalog of video content and IP. Yesterday's Above Avalon daily update went over Amazon & MGM, as well as Apple vs. MGM. https://www.aboveavalon.com/ ... ($) https://twitter.com/... @ryansgameshow : Let me get this straight. Netflix pays like $12-17 billion a year for new original content. Amazon just paid $8 billion for literally 100 years worth of old content. Seems like Bezos got a good deal! https://www.cnbc.com/... Zapty / @zaptf2 : Just to spite Jeff Bezos im gonna write an epic story that has 0 of these things https://twitter.com/... Brian Firenzi / @mrbrianfirenzi : This is like when you read a letterboxd review of your movie that says “it needed better scripting in the third act, cinematography wasn't epic like fincher or villeneuve” only now imagine this loser 19-year-old has $5 trillion liquid https://twitter.com/... @blocktimusprime : Lol how do you sell a whole movie studio for the price of one Avengers movie? Pathetic https://twitter.com/... Sara Fischer / @sarafischer : Amazon announcing its 2nd-largest acquisition the day after being sued by DC AG for anti trust is a story itself —It's also happening shortly after WaPo announced a new editor, selected in part by Bezos —Amazing to think about Bezos navigating all of these interests at same time https://twitter.com/... @patrickvons : This is the best analysis I have read about why Amazon is buying MGM, which is NOT to primarily compete with Netflix. But will this deal mean the end of speculation about Amazon also buying a cinema chain or will that be seen as vertical integration? https://www.vox.com/... Scott Galloway / @profgalloway : 26yo online retailer buys century-old entertainment icon in order to sell paper towels Matt McGee / @mattmcgee : E-commerce company buys content company. https://twitter.com/... Quinn Nelson / @snazzyq : This is terrible news. https://twitter.com/... Zander Lurie / @zlurie : Super annoyed that @amazon keeps topping our M&A bids. Would've been super fun for @SurveyMonkey to own the Bond series. Danny Sullivan / @dannysullivan : The name's Prime. James Prime. https://twitter.com/... Andrew Webster / @a_webster : legally blonde 3: alive girl, coming exclusively to amazon prime video Rep. Ken Buck / @repkenbuck : I'm deeply concerned by Amazon's acquisition of MGM Studios. Amazon's revenue for the first quarter of 2021 increased by 44% to $108.5 billion — the company's fastest growth in almost 10 years. https://www.cnbc.com/... Dieter Bohn / @backlon : Well I guess Q branch devices are going to helpfully suggest James Bond buy knock off Amazon clone devices now. So long Aston Martin DB5, hello Echo lapel pin. https://t.co/OZ8ULaBIsI @toddbishop : Jeff Bezos on MGM deal at $AMZN annual meeting: “MGM has a vast deep catalog of much beloved intellectual property, and with the talented people at MGM and Amazon Studios, we can reimagine and develop that IP for the 21st century.” Shira Ovide / @shiraovide : I definitely highlighted this part of Amazon Unbound: https://twitter.com/... Ari Levy / @levynews : Amazon is the world's largest e-retailer and cloud computing company whose two biggest acquisitions are of a supermarket chain and movie studio. Casey Newton / @caseynewton : Upcoming Bond girl names: - Echo Dot - Kindle Page - Bessamer Mailbox Corey Quinn / @quinnypig : Add in “frugality” and “customer obsession” and these become the Amazon Leadership Principles. I for one am eager to replace “Disagree and Commit” with “Violence.” https://twitter.com/... John Ourand / @ourand_sbj : Amazon's Spring Purchases MGM: $8.5 billion 10 years of Thursday Night Football: $12 billion https://twitter.com/... Shira Ovide / @shiraovide : Wait, the MGM roaring lion is actually a *tiger*? I feel duped. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/... Richard Lai / @richardlai : Someday, James Bond will ride Blue Origin on a space mission. https://twitter.com/... Sonny Bunch / @sonnybunch : The good news about the Amazon acquisition of MGM is that we might finally—finally— get that ROBOCOP VS LEGALLY BLONDE series we've all been waiting for. https://www.axios.com/... Mike Shields / @digitalshields : No Time to Die. Or to Pee. Lance Ulanoff / @lanceulanoff : Just realized that by the time the next Bond film hits theaters, it could be “An Amazon Studios Film” https://twitter.com/... Dorsey Shaw / @dorseyshaw : Meanwhile.. the Senate is preparing a $10 billion bailout fund for Jeff Bezos's vanity spaceflight company Blue Origin.. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Brian Stelter / @brianstelter : Amazon exec Mike Hopkins: “The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM's talented team.” He cites “so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.” https://www.cnn.com/... Kate Cox / @kcoxdc : I, too, love to announce major acquisitions that will trigger antitrust scrutiny the day after I've been sued for antitrust violations. https://www.protocol.com/... See also Mediagazer
CNBCAnnie Palmer
Context & Ripple Effects
Reports earlier in May had framed MGM as Amazon’s largest prospective entertainment move, with a price range of $7B to $10B. The announced $8.45B agreement turns that exploration into a concrete test of Amazon’s acquisition strategy beyond its earlier MGM deal talks.
The transaction also became an antitrust flashpoint: the FTC later opened an in-depth investigation of the MGM purchase, while the European Commission ultimately characterized Amazon and MGM’s business overlap as limited when clearing the deal.
First-order effects
Amazon and MGM move from negotiations into a formal acquisition process, putting MGM’s studio assets under Amazon’s planned entertainment expansion.
The deal immediately gives critics and regulators a specific transaction on which to focus claims that Amazon is extending its reach across adjacent businesses.
Second-order effects
The FTC’s investigation raises the review burden for Amazon and MGM, making regulatory process a central constraint on completing the transaction.
The European Commission’s later unconditional approval of the MGM deal establishes that the transaction can be assessed as having limited direct business overlap, despite broader concerns about Amazon’s scale.
Third-order effects
If large platforms keep using acquisitions to add adjacent media capabilities, merger review will increasingly weigh ecosystem power arguments against conventional overlap analysis.
Amazon’s MGM bid points to entertainment becoming another strategic layer in a broader portfolio, rather than a standalone acquisition category.
The trend: Large technology platforms are using acquisitions to extend into adjacent consumer businesses, with regulators testing whether traditional overlap analysis captures their broader ecosystem power.
For the gentle folks at MGM, here are Jeff Bezos's twelve ingredients for every epic story, from the Hollywood chapter of my book Amazon Unbound. https://www.amazon.com/.... Good luck! https://twitter.com/...
Another day. Another mega merger. Amazon's proposed purchase of MGM reinforces what we already know — they are laser-focused on expanding and entrenching their monopoly power. That's bad for workers, consumers, and small businesses.
This sale should not go through. @amazon is already a monopoly platform that owns e-commerce, shipping, groceries & the cloud. They shouldn't be permitted to buy anything else. Period. https://twitter.com/...
“A hero with superpowers fights a compelling enemy like an alien invasion around the world with violence, making moral choices. sometimes it's happy and sometimes it's sad and sometimes it's funny. also there's betrayal and cliffhangers.” - Jeff Bezos on good storytelling https:/…
Amazon announcing its 2nd-largest acquisition the day after being sued by DC AG for anti trust is a story itself —It's also happening shortly after WaPo announced a new editor, selected in part by Bezos —Amazing to think about Bezos navigating all of these interests at same time …
A thread: Amazon's purchase of MGM Studios is a prime example of how Big Tech has gotten so big, how our antitrust policies are woefully out-of-date, & how the right leadership can repair the damage. 1/4 https://twitter.com/...
Let me get this straight. Netflix pays like $12-17 billion a year for new original content. Amazon just paid $8 billion for literally 100 years worth of old content. Seems like Bezos got a good deal! https://www.cnbc.com/...
This is like when you read a letterboxd review of your movie that says “it needed better scripting in the third act, cinematography wasn't epic like fincher or villeneuve” only now imagine this loser 19-year-old has $5 trillion liquid https://twitter.com/...
Well I guess Q branch devices are going to helpfully suggest James Bond buy knock off Amazon clone devices now. So long Aston Martin DB5, hello Echo lapel pin. https://t.co/OZ8ULaBIsI
Jeff Bezos on MGM deal at $AMZN annual meeting: “MGM has a vast deep catalog of much beloved intellectual property, and with the talented people at MGM and Amazon Studios, we can reimagine and develop that IP for the 21st century.”
Amazon buying MGM is another milestone for tech and the rest of the world converging. The distinction between tech and non-tech is evaporating, and we're only going to see more of this in all industries.
I'm deeply concerned by Amazon's acquisition of MGM Studios. Amazon's revenue for the first quarter of 2021 increased by 44% to $108.5 billion — the company's fastest growth in almost 10 years. https://www.cnbc.com/...
Add in “frugality” and “customer obsession” and these become the Amazon Leadership Principles. I for one am eager to replace “Disagree and Commit” with “Violence.” https://twitter.com/...
The good news about the Amazon acquisition of MGM is that we might finally—finally— get that ROBOCOP VS LEGALLY BLONDE series we've all been waiting for. https://www.axios.com/...
Meanwhile.. the Senate is preparing a $10 billion bailout fund for Jeff Bezos's vanity spaceflight company Blue Origin.. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Amazon exec Mike Hopkins: “The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM's talented team.” He cites “so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.” https://www.cnn.com/...
I, too, love to announce major acquisitions that will trigger antitrust scrutiny the day after I've been sued for antitrust violations. https://www.protocol.com/...
“It is the first time a major tech company has bought a Hollywood studio, signaling starkly how the push into video streaming is shaking up the Hollywood landscape. The Information broke news of the talks last week.” https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
Amazon bought MGM for nearly $9 billion. What does that mean for MGM (and James Bond), what does it mean for Amazon, and what does it mean right now, with Amazon at the center of antitrust concerns? https://www.ign.com/...
Amazon and MGM have signed an agreement for Amazon to MGM for a purchase price of $8.45 billion Catalog includes over 4,000 beloved film titles and 17,000 TV shows, including thousands of fan favorites like The Handmaid's Tale, Fargo, and Vikings > https://press.aboutamazon.com/ …
It's all about that IP... “The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM's talented team.” https://twitter.com/...