Mysterious billionaire's appearance at Golden Globes that sends very pointed signal over future of Warner Bros.
A rarely seen Hollywood billionaire's appearance at the Golden Globes has sparked speculation it was message about the fate of Warner Bros.Aviv Nevo, 60, was spotted sitting between Warner Bros. Discovery chief executive David Zaslav and co-chair Mike De Luca at Sunday's ceremony.The mysterious media mogul who runs California-based venture capital firm NV Investments is worth at least one billion dollars, according to Showbiz411.He seldom appears at the glitzy Hollywood events and but emerged in a pointed 'signal' to Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, the outlet reported.Ellison has attempted to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes stations like CNN, TBS and TNT for $108billion.The hostile bid dwarfs the $82.7billion offered by preferred buyers Netflix which had been accepted.Ellison's all-cash offer was turned down last week and prompted him to sue in an attempt to gain more information about why their bid was rejected.Nevo's appearance alongside Zaslav has lead to speculation it was intended to remind Ellison that Zaslav has friends in high places and that Paramount's hopes of acquiring Warner are slim. Mysterious Hollywood powerbroker Aviv Nevo was seen at the Golden Globes on Sunday sitting next to Warner chief executive David Zaslav and co-chair Mike De Luca Nevo, pictured with Sofia Vergara and Lenny Kravitz at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, is an 'international man of mystery' who turned millions of dollars of inheritance into a vast fortuneNevo turned an inheritance of around $10million into his current fortune, The New York Times previously reported in 2008.He was a long-time shareholder in Time Warner, as the company was known then, although he never owned more than five percent.That would require public disclosure. The nature of Nevo's business largely remains unknown.'He's sort of like a media Wizard of Oz,' Tyler Goldman, the founder of BuzzMedia, told the outlet.'He had some strategic advice, but mostly relationship advice,' Goldman added. 'We were working on a number of deals with bigger media companies, and he had advice on how to approach those.'Friends described Nevo - better known by his nickname Vivi - as an 'international man of mystery' who was also incredibly guarded.'He's a great character, so that draws attention to him,' Lachlan Murdoch, now the chairman of News Corp, said in 2008.Nevo is the godfather of Murdoch's son. Nevo's presence at the Golden Globes was reportedly meant to be a 'signal' for Paramount Skydance CEO David EllisonThe billionaire owns homes in Malibu and Brentwood in California, New York City, London and Tel Aviv, according to The Times.He counts Madonna and Lenny Kravitz among his extensive list of friends. Nevo was an only child born in Bucharest, Romania, and raised in Israel.His father was a chemical engineer, while his mother was an anesthesiologist. The couple later divorced.When Nevo's mom died, she left him a sizeable inheritance worth multiple millions of dollars.He used that to invest in the likes of eBay, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, News Corp and Viacom.Nevo has attributed his success and wealth to his late mother.'I look up at the stars and I thank her every day,' he told Vanity Fair in 2011.'She gave me my start, my opportunity,' Nevo added. 'She taught me the importance of work. If it wasn't for her I'd have nothing.' CEO and President of Warner Bros. Discovery David Zaslav was spotted next to Nevo at the Golden GlobesOn Monday, Paramount announced that the company had filed a lawsuit against Warner to gain more information about why its takeover bid was spurned in favor of Netflix's.'We are surprised by the lack of transparency on WBD's part regarding basic financial matters,' Ellison said.He added: 'It just doesn't add up - much like the math on how WBD continues to favor taking less than our $30 per share all-cash offer for its shareholders.Warner has agreed to a $72billion deal with Netflix. It slammed Paramount's suit in Delaware Chancery Court as 'meritless.''Despite six weeks and just as many press releases from Paramount Skydance, it has yet to raise the price or address the numerous and obvious deficiencies of its offer,' Warner Bros. said in a statement, according to Deadline.The statement added: 'Instead, Paramount Skydance is seeking to distract with a meritless lawsuit and attacks on a board that has delivered an unprecedented amount of shareholder value.'In spite of its multiple opportunities, Paramount Skydance continues to propose a transaction that our board unanimously concluded is not superior to the merger agreement with Netflix.' David Ellison, CEO of Paramount, announced Monday that his company was suing Warner in Delaware Chancery Court to get more information on why their takeover bid was rejectedParamount has argued that their offer 'provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion.'Ellison said the bid would 'create a stronger Hollywood' and was 'in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theater industry.'He added: 'We believe they will benefit from the enhanced competition, higher content spend and theatrical release output, and a greater number of movies in theaters as a result of our proposed transaction.'The Daily Mail has reached out to Warner Bros. Discovery for comment.
