A (3:29)

I'm a what a wizard and a thumping good.

B (3:32)

And I'd wager, as well as cable networks, hbo, CNN and hgtv, this home.

A (3:38)

Is shaped like a pyramid.

B (3:40)

Yes, Warner said it's gotten interest from, quote, multiple parties. WSJ media and entertainment reporter Joe Flynt joins me now with more. Joe, what can you tell us about this interest in Warner Brothers Discovery's assets?

A (3:54)

The Wall Street Journal's previously reported Paramount has made offers for Warner Brothers Discovery, and they have now made two offers, both of which have been rebuffed. Warner Brothers Discovery issued a statement this morning saying they have received interest from multiple suitors for some or all of the company. They're not disclosing who the suitors are. There's a roundup, the usual suspects list going around the industry. The others are very likely more interested in the Warner Brothers studio library and hbo. Hbo Max streaming service.

B (4:37)

So Warner had previously announced that it was planning to split itself up. So given this announcement today, what happens with some of those plans?

A (4:46)

The chairman of the company issued a statement this morning saying the split is still the preferred option of the company. Now, this can be also seen as a bit of a negotiating ploy, but for now, they said they're going to explore these other options, keep marching forward with the split with an idea of completing it in the middle of 2026 at the latest.

B (5:11)

It seems like this is part of a bigger consolidation push within the entertainment industry. What's driving that fear?

A (5:20)

Fear is partially driving the consolidation. There is so much uncertainty about where the audience is going and how best to capture that audience. And advertisers and the people who run these big companies naturally feel that they need to be bigger to compete. Well, Paramount has not commented specifically about Warner Brothers or any potential acquisitions. David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount, did say the other week at an industry conference that any deals they did would be more about increasing their content, increasing their market share. The more toys you have, the more you can bring people into your store.

B (6:02)

That's basically the thinking that was WSJ reporter Joe Flint. Thank you, Joe.

A (6:07)

Oh, thank you.

B (6:09)

Coming up, why a surge in fraudulent rental applications? Is bad news for everyone. That's after the break. Exchanges, the Goldman Sachs podcast featuring exchanges on navigating macro uncertainty, exchanges on the forces shaping global markets. For the sharpest analysis on finance, business and the economy, count on exchanges between leading minds at Goldman Sachs. New episodes every week Listen now. We're exclusively reporting that activist investor John Partners is teaming up with NFL star and Taylor Swift fiance Travis Kelce to push for changes at Six Flags. The hedge fund said today that it, along with Kelsey and other investors, have a combined stake of about 9% in Six Flags stock. Jonna wants Six Flags to improve its marketing and customer experience and sees opportunities to change Six Flags leadership and evaluate a potential sale. Six Flags shares have dropped more than 50% this year, with bad weather and fewer visits to the theme parks taking a toll on the company. Activist investors often enlist celebrities to bring awareness to campaigns, and John and managing partner Scott Ostfeld said at a conference Kelce could help boost the Six Flags brand. Kelce, whose romance with Swift raised his profile, has described himself as a theme park super fan who grew up going to parks and Unilever said today that the planned spinoff of its ice cream business is on ice. It blamed the listing delay of the Ben and Jerry's division on the US Government shutdown. Unilever said that the securities and Exchange Commission was unable to declare the spinoff's registration statement effective, a needed step before trading can begin on the New York Stock Exchange, Unilever said it still aimed to complete the spinoff of its ice cream business this year and was considering a workaround to be able to list its shares. The rent's just too high for a lot of people. So in some cities, renters are turning to fraud. They're fudging financial information on their applications, like lying about their income. There's even a market in fake rental application packages, which can include doctored employment letters and financial documents. The surge in renter application fraud, especially in new luxury buildings, is causing plenty of headaches for both landlords and tenants. Deborah Acosta covers real estate for the Journal and is here to tell us more. Deborah, you write that Atlanta is the epicenter of this surge of fraudulent renter applications. Why is that?

C (8:55)

Atlanta has a situation in which they've had a ton of these brand new luxury buildings hit the market in the past few years. There's all these rental units available on the market. There's not really enough people who can afford to live in them. I spoke with someone who helps these landlords combat the fraud, and he said that whenever there's a brand new building that's empty and leasing up 100%, that really attracts a lot of fraudsters, because they see that there's gonna be a ton of new people coming in, and that's where they can kind of squeeze themselves in, likely without getting noticed. The other thing that's happening is the advent of AI has made it a lot easier for people to forge these applications. And three, during the pandemic, a lot of individuals were getting these stimulus checks that allowed them to afford these apartments. But then as that money ran out, suddenly they found themselves in a situation where they were living beyond their means.

B (9:57)

Is this type of fraud also happening in other cities?

C (10:00)

What's fascinating is that it's not just Atlanta, it's really spread across the country. In Miami, in Washington, D.C. and in Houston and in other parts of the country.

B (10:11)

Is fudging your application really a crime?

C (10:15)

So if you use a false Social Security number to hide your credit history, that is fraud? Yes. Is anybody going to go after you criminally for doing that? That's an open question. I spoke with someone at the Department of Justice who said, you know, this is kind of small potatoes for us. This is not the kind of thing we're really going after. And then the landlords are overwhelmed just with the eviction process. They're not going after these people criminally. And we spoke to many different landlords, and none of them said that they were going after these people.

B (10:45)

How does this situation end? Do people end up having to leave because they just can't pay?

C (10:51)

People might be able to get away with this for a few months, but ultimately they're going to get evicted. What developers are doing now, what landlords are doing is employing these new services to help them combat the fraud. And so that gives them a full picture of how many people are actually applying fraudulently to the apartments.

B (11:11)

What is the impact on the broader housing market? Do other people get affected, too?

C (11:17)

It ultimately raises rents for everyone, because you're raising rents thinking that there's all this demand for your apartments at a particular price, when in reality, so much of it is actually fraudulent. The reality is so many people cannot even afford the original rent to begin with.

B (11:36)

That was WSJ reporter Deborah Acosta. The White House confirmed today that there are no immediate plans for a summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war, as the Trump administration has concluded that Russia is unlikely to sign a peace deal in the near future. Just days ago, Trump said he would be meeting soon with Putin in Budapest. And finally, applications to U.S. business schools dropped 1% this year. The U.S. business schools diverged from broader trends as applications to business schools worldwide actually grew 7%. The graduate management Admission Council, a nonprofit that tracks application trends, surveyed more than 300 business schools across 41 countries. This year's report is a significant about face from last year for U.S. business schools. When applications surged in 2025, worries about visas kept international students closer to home, and many young American professionals seem like they're sticking with their jobs rather than going back to school. But most of this year's drop in interest happened outside the top 30 to 50 US programs. Applications for full time MBAs rose at schools like the University of Chicago and New York University. And that's what's news for this Tuesday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Pierre Bienname and Zoe Kolkin, with supervising producer Tali Arbel. I'm Alex Osola for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.

A (13:17)

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