(Updates paragraph 1 and table with latest developments)

April 23 (Reuters) - Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD )

shareholders backed the company's proposed $110 billion merger

with Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ), according to preliminary

results of the vote on Thursday, but cast an advisory vote

against executive compensation plans tied to the deal.

With shareholder approval secured, attention now turns to

regulatory authorities, with both Washington and London expected

to examine the merger's impact on competition.

Here is a timeline from the founding of Time Inc and Warner

Bros to the company's latest breakup and potential sale.

Date Event

1923 Warner Bros was founded by brothers Harry,

Albert, Sam and Jack Warner as a film studio

in Hollywood. It revolutionized cinema with

the introduction of synchronized sound in

films

1969 Kinney National Company, a conglomerate that

later transitioned into media, buys Warner

Bros-Seven Arts and later spins off its

non-media businesses

1972 HBO is founded by Charles Dolan with backing

from Time. It was the first U.S.

subscription-based cable network, offering

uncut, commercial-free movies and live

sports, pioneering premium cable television

1990 Time Inc merges with Warner Communications

in a $14 billion deal, hailed as a "marriage

of content and distribution", creating Time

Warner, then the largest media company in

the world

1996 Time Warner merges with Turner Broadcasting,

gaining Cartoon Network, CNN, TNT and a vast

film library of classic films

2000 Time Warner merges with AOL, forming AOL

Time Warner, the largest merger in history

at the time, aiming to marry traditional and

digital media

2002 AOL Time Warner merger begins to unravel as

AOL's value collapses with the launch of an

SEC investigation, prompted by allegations

of accounting irregularities and inflated

revenue reports at AOL

2003 CEO Steve Case resigns from AOL Time Warner

2004 Time Warner sells Warner Music to a private

equity group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. for

$2.6 billion

2009 Time Warner fully spins off Time Warner

Cable, which had already been partially

separated in 2007, ending its role in cable

distribution

2009 Time Warner spins off AOL

2013 Time Warner spins off Time, its magazine

division, which includes Time, People,

Fortune and Sports Illustrated, marking its

formal exit from publishing

2016 AT&T announces acquisition of Time Warner

for $85 billion

2018 AT&T completes its acquisition of Time

Warner after regulator approval, renaming it

WarnerMedia

2021 AT&T announces it will spin off WarnerMedia

and merge it with Discovery Inc to create a

new standalone media company

2022 WarnerMedia and Discovery complete their

merger in a $43 billion deal

June 9, Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) announces it will

2025 separate into two companies - one focusing

on streaming and studios businesses, while

the second will house its cable TV assets

October 21, Warner Bros Discovery's ( WBD ) board rejects a

2025 Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) offer of nearly $60

billion, or $24 per share, a source familiar

with the matter exclusively tells Reuters.

The company says it is weighing a potential

sale amid interest from several suitors

November Warner Bros Discovery's ( WBD ) board wants

18, 2025 Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) to sweeten its bid to $30

per share, valuing the company at $74.34

billion, Axios reports

November Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) receives preliminary

21, 2025 buyout bids from Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ), Comcast ( CMCSA )

and Netflix ( NFLX ) - who were asked to improve

their offers

December 1, Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) receives a second

2025 round of bids, including a mostly cash offer

from Netflix ( NFLX )

December 4, Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) accuses Warner Bros

2025 Discovery of running an unfair sale process

that favors Netflix ( NFLX ) over other bidders, CNBC

reports, citing a letter sent by the newly

merged media company

December 5, Netflix ( NFLX ) is in exclusive talks to

2025 buy Warner Bros Discovery's ( WBD ) film and

television studios along with its streaming

assets after offering $28 per share, a

source says

December 5, Netflix ( NFLX ) agrees to buy Warner Bros

2025 Discovery's film and TV studios and

streaming division for $72 billion, or

$27.75 per share

December 9, Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) makes a hostile bid for

2025 Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) in a deal valued at

$108.4 billion or $30 per share

December Warner Bros Discovery's ( WBD ) board rejects

17, 2025 Paramount Skydance's ( PSKY ) hostile $108.4 billion

bid, saying it failed to provide adequate

financing assurances

December Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) amends its offer to buy

23, 2025 Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) to include a $40.4

billion personal guarantee from Larry

Ellison

January 7, Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) rejects Paramount

2026 Skydance's amended hostile bid despite Larry

Ellison's guarantee

January 12, Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) files lawsuit to force

2026 Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) to disclose details of

its deal with Netflix ( NFLX ) and plans to nominate

directors to Warner Bros Discovery's ( WBD ) board

January 20, Netflix ( NFLX ) amends its bid to an all-cash offer

2026 for Warner Bros Discovery's ( WBD ) studio and

streaming units and secures unanimous

approval from the Warner Bros board without

increasing the $82.7 billion purchase price

January 22, Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) extends its hostile

2026 tender offer for Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) to

February 20, seeking more time to win

investors

February 3, U.S. senators grill Netflix ( NFLX ) co-CEO Ted

2026 Sarandos at a hearing over how the company's

acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) would

affect competition in the entertainment

industry

February 5, U.S. President Donald Trump says he will

2026 stay out of the bidding war for Warner Bros

Discovery ( WBD ), a reversal from his comments late

last year

February Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) revises its $30-per-share

10, 2026 all-cash offer for Warner Bros, adding a

25-cent-per-share fee for every quarter the

transaction does not close beyond December

31, 2026. Paramount also says it will fund

the $2.8 billion termination fee Warner Bros

owes Netflix ( NFLX ) if the deal falls through

February Warner Bros rejects Paramount's revised bid

17, 2026 and gives the Hollywood Studio seven days to

see if it can come up with a better deal to

buy the owner of HBO Max and the "Harry

Potter" franchise

February Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) says it is considering

24, 2026 a sweetened bid from Paramount Skydance ( PSKY )

without disclosing the value of the deal

February Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) opens the door to

24, 2026 Paramount after its CEO, David Ellison,

raises the offer to $31 per share

February Netflix ( NFLX ) refuses to raise its offer for

26, 2026 Warner Bros after the coveted Hollywood

studio said Paramount Skydance's ( PSKY ) revised

$31-a-share offer was superior to its

existing deal with the streaming giant

February Paramount pays the $2.80 billion termination

27, 2026 fee that Warner Bros owed Netflix ( NFLX ), streaming

giant discloses in SEC filing

February Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) enters an agreement to

27, 2026 be acquired by Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) at $81

billion in equity value, in a transaction

expected to close in the third quarter of

2026

Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD )

April 23, shareholders back proposed merger with

2026 Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) and cast an advisory vote

against executive compensation plans tied to

the deal