Jeffrey Katzenberg made a plea to Rupert Murdoch for him buy DreamWorks Animation for $4 billion after it was reported that the company was close to being sold to a Japanese company for a lower amount. Murdoch shut him down.
The Hollywood Reporter reports:
It's still not clear what killed the SoftBank acquisition of DWA, which multiple sources believe was well along when THR revealed the talks Sept. 27. Sources say DWA CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg had made an unsuccessful appeal to Rupert Murdoch to buy the company for about $4 billion — a number that long has been Katzenberg's target. (A Murdoch rep and DWA declined comment.)
"Jeffrey's overplaying his hand," says one observer, who, like many, is surprised that DWA hasn't closed the SoftBank deal. "I would have jumped all over it. He could claim victory, get his $3 billion and work his way into Masayoshi Son's ear to buy other stuff."
The reported offer of $3.4 billion by Japanese SoftBank is far above the current value of DreamWorks, and the company is "spooked" that Katzenberg did not immediately embrace the deal and chose rather to go begging to Murdoch.